HSM7
by ZefronsAngel
Summary: Sequel to HSM 4, 5, and 6. This story taked place three years after HSM6. Troy and Gabriella raise their energetic and curious twins while expecting a new family member. TROYELLA!
1. Family Life

"Wildcat, can you get the kids? It's time for dinner." Gabriella asked Troy. Three years had passed. The kids

were now three years old, and were going to start preschool at East Albuquerque Preschool in the fall. Yes, after

graduating from college, Troy and Gabriella had moved back to Albuquerque and were working at East High

when school was going on. But for the time, it was mid-July, so they were enjoying their time off.

"Where are they?" Troy asked.

"Upstairs in their rooms," Gabriella answered. When they moved, they had gotten a four bedroom house, so

each of the kids had gotten their own room.

"Okay, I'll go get them." Before going up the stairs, Troy kissed Gabriella's cheek. Even after being married

for four years, he still was loving his wife more and more as each day passed.

Gabriella smiled and returned his kiss with an 'I love you,' which Troy returned with his own 'I love you.' It

seemed like every day they said those words more and more, and Gabriella smiled more and more whenever Troy

would kiss her.

"Twoy! Get out of my room!" came a voice yelling from upstairs.

"What's going on?" Troy asked as got up the stairs.

"Daddy, Twoy went in my room!" Brie yelled, pushing her twin brother down on the ground.

"Daddy, she pushed me!" the little Troy said as he started to cry. Then, he hit Brie.

Brie started crying. "I want Mommy," she said.

"Kids, no more hitting or pushing," the dad Troy said, picking up his son off the floor. "Now let's go eat din-

ner."

"Wildcat, what's going on?" Gabriella asked from downstairs.

"The kids are fighting," Troy answered. "And Brie pushed Troy down, and then he hit her."

At that moment, Gabriella saw her daughter running down the stairs crying. "Mommy, Twoy hit me," she said,

going over to Gabriella and hugging her.

"Well Daddy made him stop," Gabriella said, picking up Brie and holding her. "And while he shouldn't have

hit you, you shouldn't have pushed him, either."

"But he was gonna take my toys," Brie cried, putting her face against her mother's shoulder.

"Well if there's a problem, you need to use words instead of hitting or pushing. You could have just said,

'Troy, can you please not come in my room? I would like to play by myself.' And if he would refuse, you need to

get Mommy or Daddy," Gabriella said, kissing her daughter's head.

Just then, Troy came downstairs with his son. "Brie," he said, looking at his daughter, "Troy wants to tell you

something."

"What?" Brie asked, looking at her brother.

"I'm sowy," the little Troy said.

"Brie, can you say sorry, too?" Gabriella asked.

"I'm sowy," Brie said.

"Mommy, Bwie pushed me and I fell down," Troy said.

"Don't talk about it anymore little Wildcat," the dad Troy said. Since Gabriella called him Wildcat, she had

decided that their son's nickname should be little Wildcat, and Troy had went along with it.

"But she did," Troy told his dad.

"Well it's over now," Gabriella said. "Wildcat, can you get them into their seats at the table? I'm gonna put our

dinner on the table."

"Okay," Troy said, taking his daughter from Gabriella and putting her down in a chair at the dining room tab-

le. Brie was beginning to look a lot like her mother, with her brown eyes, dark hair, sweet smile, and petite size.

The only things were that her hair was straight like her fathers instead of curly like her mother's and she had

Troy's eye shape.

The little Troy sat across from his sister. He had his mother's nose and some of her curls, but other than that,

he looked like his father with his blue eyes and light brown hair color.

"Okay," Gabriella said, putting dinner on the table. They were having chicken and mashed potatoes.

"That looks good, Gabby," Troy said, sitting down next to his son.

Gabriella sat down next to her daughter and reached across the table to grab her husband's hand and squeeze

it a little. When he looked at her, Gabriella whispered, "We have to talk after dinner."

Troy nodded, understanding, and started helping his son get food on his plate.

* * *

"What's up?" Troy asked. Dinner was over, and the kids had gone back upstairs to play some more, leaving

their parents alone to talk.

"Wildcat," Gabriella said, smiling. "I'm pregnant again."

"Really? Oh, that's so great!" Troy hugged Gabriella tightly and pressed kisses onto her cheeks, forehead, nose

and lips. "I love you so much."

Gabriella returned Troy's loving, affectionate hug and his kisses.

"When did you find out?" Troy asked.

"Today," Gabriella said.

"I'm so happy," Troy said, hugging Gabriella tighter. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Gabriella said back, hugging Troy tighter, too.

"Mommy, Daddy?"

Troy and Gabriella looked to see their daughter standing at the entrance of the room.

"What are you doing?" Brie asked.

"We're hugging each other," Troy answered.

"Well I have to go potty weally bad!"

"Okay," Gabriella said, letting go of Troy and taking her daughter to the bathroom. Both the kids had been do-

ing very well with potty training, but they had a habit of waiting until the last minute to go.

"Why did you and Daddy look happy?" Brie asked as Gabriella helped her wash her hands.

"Well we have to tell you and your brother something," Gabriella said.

"Is it good?"

"Yes."

Brie left the bathroom after drying her hands and went upstairs.

"Wildcat," Gabriella said to Troy as she walked over to him.

"Yeah?"

"Can we go tell the kids now?"

"Okay," Troy said, wrapping one of his arms around Gabriella's waist as they walked upstairs.

"Troy, Brie," Gabriella said from the hallway.

The two kids ran out to see their parents. "What, Mommy?" Troy asked.

"We have to tell you two something," the dad Troy said.

"You're going to have a new baby brother or sister," Gabriella said, smiling.

"I don't want another sister!" Troy said, his voice becoming angry.

"Don't go buy another bwother for me!" Brie pouted, folding her little arms across her chest.

"Can I come with you and pick out the baby?" Troy asked. "I don't want a mean one."

The parents Troy and Gabriella laughed a little at what their kids were saying. "We're not buying the baby,"

Troy told his kids.

"Then how are we going to get it?" Brie asked thoughtfully.

"It's in Mommy's belly," Gabriella said.

"How?" Brie asked, curious.

"Well let's just say that Mommy and Daddy love each other a lot," Gabriella said.

"I don't understand," Brie said.

"You'll get it when you're a big girl," Troy assured his daughter. Then, turning towards Gabriella, said, "She's

gonna be a smart girl, just like you. She's very thoughtful."

Gabriella smiled.

"Oh," Brie said. "Well are you going to take it out now?"

"Mommy, don't take it out!" Troy yelled.

"No, it won't come out for a long time. It needs to grow."

"Oh," Brie said again.

"Can I play outside?" the little Troy asked.

"Well Mommy or Daddy has to come," Gabriella said.

"I want to go out, too!" Brie said, jumping up and down.

"Okay, well get your shoes on," Gabriella said.

"I'll go out with you," Troy told his kids.

"I'll come too," Gabriella said.

"Daddy, can you play basketball with me?" Troy asked.

"Okay," Troy said, answering his son. A couple weeks ago, he had taught him a little basketball, and even

though he was young, he had loved it.

"I'll go get my shoes on," Gabriella said, going into the room that she shared with Troy.

"Me, too," Troy said, following Gabriella into his room.

"Wildcat, what do you think of the name Julliette?" Gabriella asked. "I like that name, and I think it would be

nice for a girl."

"You man if our baby's a girl?" Troy asked.

Gabriella nodded.

"I like it," Troy said.

"And what about for a boy? I was thinking Matthew, and we could call him Matt."

"I like that, too," Troy said. "But you're only having one baby this time, right?"

"Yeah," Gabriella said.

"Okay, I was just checking."

"Mommy, Daddy, we're weady to go outside!" Brie said from her parents' doorway.

"Okay," Gabriella said. "So are we. Come on, Wildcat."

"Coming," Troy said, taking Gabriella's hand as they walked out of their room.

"Let's go play basketball!" little Troy said excitedly, running down the steps and out the back door with his

sister and parents following.

"Mommy, I want to swing," Brie said. Troy and Gabriella had gotten a swing set for their kids soon after they

moved into their house.

"Okay," Gabriella said. She lifted her daughter up onto one of the swings.

"Can you push me but not too high?" Brie asked.

"Okay," Gabriella said, gently making the swing move.

"Mommy! I stole the ball fwom Daddy!" little Troy yelled, running over to his mom.

"Good job!" Gabriella said. "Now you'd better go back to playing before Daddy wins."

"Okay," Troy said, running back over to the small basketball practice area that was in the yard.

* * *

Around seven-thirty, Gabriella said, "Okay, we have to go in now and go to bed."

"Why?" Brie asked. "I wanna play!"

"You need your sleep," Gabriella answered. "You can play tomorrow."

"But I wanna play now," Brie said.

"Wildcat, can you bring Troy in?" Gabriella asked.

"Okay, Gabby," Troy agreed. "Come on, Troy, let's go to bed."

"I don't wanna go to bed!" Troy said.

"Well if you want to be a nice, strong basketball player, you have to," his dad told him.

Troy still looked mad, but walked to the door to go inside anyway. Brie and his parents followed him. "Okay,

let's go brush your teeth and get your pajamas on," Gabriella said to her daughter.

"Okay," Brie said, going up the stairs.

Gabriella followed her daughter into the bathroom and helped her brush her teeth. When she was done, Troy

helped his son brush his teeth while Gabriella went in Brie's room with her to help her get her pajamas on. Once

Troy had his pajamas on, he went in his bed and Brie went in hers. The parents Troy and Gabriella kissed each of

them good night, then went downstairs. "Soon we'll have another one to take care of," Gabriella said after she

was sitting on the sofa snuggled up to Troy.

"I know," Troy said, putting his arm around Gabriella's shoulders. "But by the time you do, Brie and Troy will

be four, so hopefully they'll calm down a little."

"I don't know," Gabriella said. "They both seem very energetic."

"Well I guess that's a good thing. We don't need them to be lazy and lie around all day."

"I know. I guess it is good."

Troy kissed Gabriella's cheek and pulled her closer. "I can't wait for our new baby," he said.

"Me neither. It was cute when the kids thought we were gonna buy one at a store."

"I know. But I guess they take after you, and you're adorable."

Gabriella smiled. "Did I ever tell you I love you?"

"Lots of times, but it's always nice to hear it," Troy said.

"Remember the first time I told you I loved you?" Gabriella asked.

Troy nodded. "And you didn't give me a chance to say it back."

"Well you did get to eventually," Gabriella said.

"I know," Troy said. "What kind of people do you think our kids will find to marry?"

"Troy! They're three! They won't be old enough to marry for fifteen years! Don't try to rush them growing up."

"Okay," Troy said, rubbing Gabriella's arm.

Just then, footsteps were heard on the stairs. "Mommy, I'm thirsty," Troy told his mother.

"Okay, you can have a little bit of water, but then you need to sleep," Gabriella said, getting up and going into

the kitchen to get Troy a cup of water. "Here you go."

"Thank you," Troy said, taking the cup of water and sipping it. "Okay, I'm done." He handed the cup back to

Gabriella and went back upstairs.

After putting the cup in the sink, Gabriella went back to Troy. "He's so much like you," she said.

"I know, and Brie's like you-except for when she gets into fights with her brother."

"Well remember what I told you-that I threw a fit at kindergarten?"

"Yeah," Troy said. "But I can't see my sweet, precious Gabby acting up."

"Well I did," Gabriella told Troy.

"Aw, well you must have grown out of it, because you're such a sweetheart now."

"Thanks," Gabriella said.

"I wonder how they're gonna do in preschool," Troy said.

"I hope they'll be okay," Gabriella said.

Troy took Gabriella's hand and gently stroked her fingers. "I love you," he told her, looking into her eyes.

"I love you, too," Gabriella said back.

Troy then kissed Gabriella's lips. Gabriela kissed back, then rested her head on Troy's shoulder. They had

come so far from the time they started dating. And every day, even though they were getting older, they felt that

their love was fresher than the day before.


	2. Hot Days and Nights

At one o' clock in the morning, Troy and Gabriella, who had been sound asleep in each other's arms, heard a

knock at their door which woke them both up. "Come in," Gabriella said sleepily, still staying close to Troy.

The door opened and Brie came into the room. "I woke up," she said.

"Well it's still nighttime," Troy said. "You need to go back to sleep."

"I don't wanna go back to sleep. Can I stay here?" Brie asked.

"Well Mommy and Daddy are going back to sleep," Gabriella said.

"Can I sleep in your bed?" Brie asked.

"Well maybe you can lie down in it for just a little, but you have to be quiet if you do," Troy said. "And ask

Mommy is it's okay with her."

"It's fine," Gabriella said. "But I agree that you do need to be quiet if you're gonna be in here."

"Okay," Brie said. She got onto her parents' bed and laid down. "Why is your bed so big?"

"Because we have a bigger room," Gabriella answered. Their room wasn't that big, and their bed was only a

double bed since they much rather preferred snuggling really close to having their own space, but since Brie was

little, it looked pretty large to her.

"Mommy, why don't you sleep in the extwa woom?" Brie asked, talking about the fourth bedroom. "Then we

could all have our own wooms."

"Well Mommy can't sleep right without Daddy," Gabriella said. "And we need the extra room for your new

baby brother or sister."

"Why can't you sleep wight?"

"I don't like it when I can't see Daddy," Gabriella said, trying to explain in a way that Brie would understand.

"Brie, can you please try to sleep?" Troy asked, pulling Gabriella closer to him and closing his eyes.

"Be quiet, Daddy!" Brie demanded rudely.

"Brie, don't talk like that to me," Troy said firmly. "That's not nice, and you have to be nice to people. And be-

sides, I'm your daddy, so you need to respect both me and Mommy."

"What's wespect?" Brie asked.

"It means being nice and saying please and thank you," Troy said.

Brie started crying. "Stop being mean! Mommy, Daddy yelled at me!"

"No, Daddy was just being firm because you can't boss him around like that," Gabriella said.

"But Daddy's wong!" Brie cried.

"Brie, you have to be nice," Gabriella said. "When Mommy and Daddy were little, we got in trouble, too."

"Did Gwandma and Gwandma and Gwandpa tell you to be nice?"

"Yes," Gabriella answered.

"Why awe you hugging?" Brie asked her parents. "I thought you were sleeping."

"Mommy and Daddy like hugs and kisses," Gabriella said, "And it's comfy to sleep while we're hugging."

"You're yucky," she said.

Troy and Gabriella both laughed a little and kissed each other's cheeks affectionately.

"Let's jump on the bed!" Brie yelled, standing up and beginning to jump up and down.

"Brie, no," Troy said firmly. "Stop that right now. You might fall."

"No I won't!" Brie insisted.

"Brie, please stop," Gabriella said, also firmly. "You're bouncing the whole bed."

"But it's fun!" Brie yelled.

"Shhh!" Troy said. "You're gonna wake up your brother!"

"But it's FUN!" Brie shouted.

"Brie, stop that right now," Gabriella said, more firmly than the last time.

"No!" Brie refused.

"Alright," Troy said. He let go of Gabriella, got out of bed, then lifted his daughter up. "You're going back to

your own room."

"No!"

"Yes," Troy said, carrying his daughter out of the room and taking her to her own. He put her down in bed.

"Okay, Brie, good night," he said.

"I want to be tucked in," Brie said.

"It's too hot for covers tonight," Troy said. "Mommy and Daddy aren't under covers. It's the middle of sum-

mer."

"But I want to be under the covwers," Brie whined.

"Gabby, honey," Troy called, "Can you come here for a minute?"

Gabriella walked into her daughter's room a moment later. "What's the problem?"

"Brie wants to get under her covers and I said it was too hot out," Troy explained. "I'm hot even sleeping on

top of our covers."

"Brie, it's way too hot," Gabriella agreed.

"But it's not too hot for my pajamas," Brie said.

"I know, but your pajamas aren't thick and heavy like your covers," Gabriella said.

"Please?"

"Well maybe you can just get under your sheet, but not the big thick winter covers," Gabriella said.

"Okay," Brie said.

Troy pulled the heavy blankets off his daughter's bed and tossed them on the floor next to it. "Okay, now you

can get under your sheet if you want."

Brie got under the sheet on her bed.

"Thank you," Gabriella said, kissing her daughter's forehead. "Now you go back to sleep."

"Good night, Brie," Troy said, also kissing her on the forehead.

"Good night," Brie said.

Troy and Gabriella then left their daughter's room and went back to their own. "It is really hot," Gabriella said

as they got back onto their bed. "Can I use one of your shirts?" She was wearing a tank top and shorts and from

sweating in them they felt like they were clinging to her. Troy's shirts were very loose on her so they made her

feel cooler.

"Go ahead," said Troy, lying down on the bed. "I know, it's super hot. Is the air conditioner at high?" He was

only wearing a pair of his basketball shorts, but he was still sweating.

"Yeah," Gabriella said, opening the closet and taking out one of Troy's shirts as she took her own off along

with her shorts and put them both away. Then, she slipped Troy's shirt on, which came halfway to her knees, and

laid down in bed next to him. "I can't believe how hot it is," she said, reaching over to brush Troy's sweaty bangs

out of his face.

"Albuquerque is a pain in the summer," Troy complained.

"Do you wanna go have a cold shower or something?" Gabriella asked.

"Okay," Troy agreed. "Then after that, if you want, I'll go out and get a midnight ice cream snack for us."

"Let's go," Gabriella said, getting off the bed and leaving the room to go in the bathroom.

* * *

An hour later, Troy and Gabriella had finished their shower and were eating their ice cream in the living room.

"Mommy, Daddy, I'm awake."

Troy and Gabriella looked towards the stairs and saw Brie coming down.

"So am I!" little Troy shouted as he ran to catch up with his sister.

"Why is it still dawk?" Brie asked.

"It's nighttime," Gabriella said. "You two need to go back to bed."

"Why awe you and Daddy up? I want ice cweam, too," Troy said.

"We'll take you two tomorrow," Troy promised the kids. "Daddy went to the ice cream shop to get ice cream

because Mommy and Daddy were really hot."

"I'm hot, too," Troy said to his dad.

"Me, too!" Brie said. "Mommy, why awe you weawing Daddy's shirt?"

"Because I was really hot," Gabriella answered.

"I want a snack!" little Troy yelled, running into the kitchen.

"No, you need to go to bed," his dad told him.

"Nighttime is Mommy and Daddy's time to do stuff together," Gabriella added.

"Don't you wuv me?" Brie asked, her eyes tearing up and her face becoming sad.

"Of course we do," Gabriella said, going over to hug her daughter. "But sometimes Mommy and Daddy like

to spend time with just the two of us."

"Daddy, do you wuv me?" Brie asked, turning towards Troy.

"Yes," Troy said. "Come here, Brie."

Brie ran over to her father and jumped into his lap, immediately hugging him and curling up comfortably.

"Be careful of my ice cream," Troy told her. Then, turning towards Gabriella, he said, "Baby girl, can you

put my ice cream in the freezer please?"

"Sure," Gabriella answered, taking Troy's ice cream and going into the kitchen so she could place it inside the

freezer. When she came back, she saw Troy hugging Brie and said, "I want some hugs, too." Running over to his

side, she snuggled against him and put her head on his shoulder.

Troy wrapped one of his arms around Gabriella's shoulders and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry you felt left out,"

he said.

Just then, little Troy came over and sat on Gabriella's lap. "I want to be with evwyone, too," he said.

"You can," Gabriella said, hugging her son.

Troy kissed Gabriella's cheek again. "I love you and I love our kids," he told her.

"Me, too," Gabriella agreed, kissing Troy's cheek in return.

"I'm tiwed," little Troy said.

"Let's go back to bed, then," Gabriella said.

"Okay."

"I'll get Brie," Troy said, standing up while still holding his daughter.

"Thanks," Gabriella said, standing up with her son Troy.

After putting the kids back in bed, Troy and Gabriella went back in their own room and laid on their bed, be-

ginning to snuggle as soon as they were both on. "Now I know why we got so hot," Troy said, running his fingers

through Gabriella's curls.

Gabriella smiled. "Sorry. I can't sleep without snuggling."

"Me neither," Troy said, nuzzling Gabriella's cheek.

"I love you," Gabriella said.

"Love you, too," Troy said back.

* * *

"Daddy, can you pway basketball with me?" little Troy asked eagerly the next afternoon as he ran up to his

dad.

"It's really hot out," Troy said, answering his son. "I don't want you to get heat stroke."

"What's that?"

"It's something bad that happens on you get too hot from running around outside."

"Oh."

"Are you ready to take the kids for ice cream?" Gabriella asked, coming into the room.

"Sure," Troy said.

Brie, who had been quietly coloring in a coloring book at the dining room table, jumped up and yelled, "Ice

cweam!"

"Ice cweam!" little Troy said, also yelling.

"Okay, let's go," Gabriella said as she walked towards the door with her husband Troy.

The kids followed their parents outside and into the car. "I want chocolate," Brie said as her dad pulled out of

the driveway.

"Me, too," little Troy said.

"And I want spwinkles," Brie added.

"I want chocolate sauce," Troy said.

"Okay," Gabriella said. "We'll get you that, then."

"Do you want to share an ice cream with me?" the adult Troy asked Gabriella. "We haven't shared food in a

little while; I miss it."

"Sure," Gabriella said, laughing a little as she smiled. This was one of the reasons why she loved Troy so

much.

After a few minutes of driving, Troy said, "Okay, we're here. Don't run out in the road, kids."

"Okay," both kids said.

Gabriella and Troy both helped the twins out of the car, then held their hands as they walked through the park-

ing lot of the ice cream place so they wouldn't get hit by cars. Once inside, little Troy said, "I want chocolate!"

"Me, too!" Brie shouted.

"Okay," the adult Troy said as they went up to the counter to order. "We'll have two kids' size chocolate ice

creams, one with sprinkles and one with chocolate syrup, and-" He turned towards Gabriella. "What do you want,

my love?" he asked.

"I like vanilla," Gabriella answered. "But whatever you want is fine."

"And a medium vanilla ice cream with caramel syrup and sprinkles." He knew Gabriella loved those ice cream

toppings.

A minute later, their order was ready. Troy paid, then they went to sit down at a table. Brie and little Troy be-

gan sticking their fingers in their ice cream.

"Brie, Troy, no," Gabriella said. She handed them each a plastic spoon after wiping off their messy fingers.

"Eat it with a spoon."

Brie and Troy took the spoons, but only half-used them and continued eating the ice cream off their fingers.

"Want some?" the adult Troy asked Gabriella, holding out a spoon with ice cream on it.

Gabriella ate the ice cream. "It's good," she commented.

"Uh, oh," little Troy said.

Gabriella looked at her son's ice cream. He had spilled half of it on the table. "Let me go get more napkins,"

she said, getting out of her seat. "It'll be alright."

"There you go," Troy said, picking up little Troy's ice cream cup.

"It spilled," little Troy said.

Brie started laughing. "Yours spilled; mine didn't," she said loudly in a teasing voice.

"Brie, stop that," her dad said firmly.

Gabriella came back with napkins and cleaned up the ice cream mess. "There you go," she said when she fin-

ished.

After everyone was done eating, Gabriella took Brie to the girls' bathroom and Troy took Troy to the boys'

bathroom so the kids could wash their hands. When they were done, they all got into the car and went home. Troy

and Brie were hyper the whole way back and their parents smiled about it. Their kids were the best kids in the

world to them, and it was all because they were born out of the love they shared with each other.


	3. Kids in Trouble

"Baby girl, I put the air conditioner on in the car awhile," Troy said, coming into the living room where Gabri-

ella was sitting down watching the kids play with the toys on the floor. In a few minutes, they were leaving to go

visit Sharpay and Zeke.

"Okay, thanks," Gabriella said, going over to Troy to hug him.

Troy happily hugged Gabriella back and kissed her nose. "I love you," he said.

"Love you, too," Gabriella said back, kissing Troy's cheek.

"I should get the car ready ahead of time more often if I get hugs and kisses for doing it."

Gabriella giggled a little. "You can have free hugs and kisses, too," she said, snuggling against him and clo-

sing her brown eyes.

"Thanks," Troy said, hugging her tighter. "And I love you."

"Love you," Gabriella said back.

"Awe we leaving yet?" Brie asked, interrupting her parents sweet moment.

"Yes," Gabriella said, reluctantly letting go of Troy and going over to her daughter. "You need to get in your

shoes," she said.

"Am I going, too?" little Troy asked.

"Yes, we're all going. You need shoes, too," Gabriella said.

"Whewe awe we going?" little Troy asked.

"To Mommy and Daddy's friends' house," Gabriella said. "Mr. and Mrs. Baylor. You remember them, right?"

"Awe thewe kids thewe?" Troy asked, ignoring his mother's question.

"No, no kids," Gabriella said. "But their house is like a castle, remember that place? You went there a few

times."

"I wanna go to the castle!" Brie shouted. "I wuv that place!"

"And they have a basketball court outside," Troy added. "But I never took you to that before."

"Basketball!" little Troy shouted, jumping up and down.

"Go get your shoes on, little Wildcat," Gabriella said.

"Okay, Mommy." Troy ran upstairs as fast as he could.

"Brie, you need shoes, too," Gabriella said.

"I wanna wear my flip flops," Brie said.

"Okay, you can," Gabriella told her.

Brie went upstairs immediately.

"I'm gonna go help them," Gabriella told her husband.

"Alright," Troy said, kissing her lips before she could walk all the way past him.

Gabriella smiled and kissed him back before going up the stairs. "I can't tie my shoe," little Troy said, coming

out of his room with untied sneakers.

"Well your shoes are on the wrong feet anyway," Gabriella said, looking at her the way her son had put his

shoes on.

"Oh," Troy said, sitting down and taking them off.

"And if you're gonna wear your sneakers, you're gonna have to wear socks, too," Gabriella said. "Go put some

socks on and then worry about your shoes."

"Okay," Troy said, going back into his room.

"What's taking so long, Gabby?" Troy called from downstairs.

"Troy was wearing sneakers without socks and on the wrong feet," Gabriella answered.

"Oh."

"I'm weady." Brie came out of her room. She was wearing a yellow sundress over the short set she was wear-

ing.

"Brie, you can't wear two outfits at once," Gabriella sighed. "Wildcat, can you come up here and help please?"

she called.

"Okay," Troy said, walking up the stairs.

"I'm gonna help Brie get dressed properly, and you can go help Troy, okay?" Gabriella said.

"Okay," Troy said.

"And Daddy, don't come in my woom," Brie said as she walked with her mother into her bedroom. She was

copying what her parents always told her from the time she was old enough to want to go in rooms. They would

always say, "I'm getting dressed, so don't come in." Then they would lock the door just in case, and the kids both

learned the closed doors rule very quickly after trying and not being able to open the door several times. They

also had learned to use it themselves.

"I won't," Troy promised.

"And Twoy, you stay out, too," Brie added.

"Alright, Brie, let's go get changed," Gabriella said. "Mommy's the only one coming in."

"Okay," Brie said.

In ten minutes, everyone was ready to go. "Alright, let's go outside and get in the car," Troy told the kids.

"Yay!" the twins yelled.

Gabriella smiled at her children's enthusiasm as she followed them and her husband outside and into the car.

"Why does Daddy always dwive?" Brie asked.

"Because he likes to," Gabriella answered.

"No, it's because Daddy's cooler than Mommy!" little Troy yelled loudly.

"Daddy doesn't like me," Brie told her brother. "He yelled at me before. I think Mommy's better."

"Daddy loves me," Troy said proudly.

"Daddy loves you, too, Brie," the dad Troy said.

"Oh," Brie said.

"Well Daddy's still way better than Mommy!" little Troy announced. "Mommy can't do anything fun!"

Gabriella's eyes began filling with tears as she heard her son's hurtful words. Her husband Troy noticed it right

away. "It's okay," he murmured softly to her. Then, he took one hand off the wheel and reached over to lay it on

top of hers reassuringly. "Kids," he said in a firm voice, "You are being very rude. You're making Mommy cry

and my feelings are hurt, too. You need to apologize and never do this again."

"Mommy's a baby! Mommy's a baby!" little Troy laughed.

"Hey!" Troy yelled sharply. "Mommy is not a baby. I am not happy with you right now. I love your mommy

and it makes me upset when she's upset."

"Why?" Brie asked.

"Because I love your mommy very very much and if she feels sad, I do, too," Troy explained.

"I'm sowy," Brie said sweetly.

"Sowy," little Troy said.

"Okay, now when we get home, you two are going in time out," Troy said.

"No," little Troy said in an angry voice.

"I don't wanna time out," Brie whined.

"Well you have to learn to be nice," Troy said. "If you're not, Santa will bring you coal this Christmas."

"I don't want coal," Brie pouted.

"I want a basketball," little Troy said.

Just then, Troy pulled into the large driveway of Sharpay and Zeke's house. "Here we are," he said, parking

and getting out of the car. Gabriella followed, then they both helped their kids out and walked to the door.

"Hi," Sharpay said as she opened the door. "You can come in."

Everyone went inside. "This house is HUGE!" Brie exclaimed.

"Gabriella, guess what?" Sharpay asked, shutting the door.

"What?" Gabriella asked.

"I'm pregnant," Sharpay said.

"You're kidding!" Gabriella exclaimed in surprise. "So am I...again!"

"Our kids will go to school together!" Sharpay said excitedly.

"I don't want a new bwother or sister," little Troy complained.

"Troy, stop complaining, please," Gabriella said. "There's nothing I can do about it."

"This is why I don't like you, Mommy," Troy said, hitting his mom's arm.

"Hey," Zeke said, coming into the room.

"Hey," Troy said. "Sorry to bother you, but can we go in one of the bedrooms? I need to have a serious talk

with my son."

"Sure," Zeke said. "Go ahead."

"Come on, Troy," Troy said sternly, picking up his son and carrying him into one of the many bedrooms on

the lower level of the house.

"What did I do?" little Troy asked.

Troy shut the door and sat down on the bed, putting his son next to him. "Troy, you do not hit your mommy,"

he said firmly.

"But I don't want a new bwother or sister," little Troy argued.

"Well it's not Mommy's fault," Troy said. "Now you are in serious trouble. I want you to sit in here with Dad-

dy for ten minutes."

"Why?"

"You need a time out."

"I didn't do anything!"

"You hit Mommy. That's naughty."

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is. I'm getting really mad about your behavior today."

"Sowy," little Troy whined.

"You have to prove you're sorry by staying in here with me," Troy said. "And when you're done, you need to

apologize to Mommy."

"Fine," little Troy said, pouting.

"Thank you," Troy said.

"Is time out over?" little Troy asked.

"No."

"When will it be?"

"In a little bit."

"I want it to be now!"

"It can't be. You were too naughty."

"No I wasn't. I'm a good boy."

"Well you're not being one now."

For the rest of time out, little Troy kept bugging his dad to leave. Only when he said he wasn't going to let him

leave unless he stopped begging did he stop. Then, Troy took his son into the living room where everyone else

was. "Gabby, can you come here?" he asked.

Gabriella went over to Troy and hugged him tightly, snuggling into him as she did so.

"Troy, can you say sorry to Mommy?"

"Sowy," little Troy said.

"Thank you," Gabriella said to her son.

"Can you come with me into the room I took Troy in?" Troy asked Gabriella. Then he whispered in her ear, "I

wanna comfort you."

Gabriella smiled and nodded against him. "Sharpay, can you and Zeke keep an eye on the kids?" she asked.

"Yeah," Sharpay said.

"Sure," Zeke agreed.

"Okay, then," Troy said, leading Gabriella into the room and closing the door. "Let's snuggle," he said, sitting

down on the bed.

"Okay," Gabriella agreed, sitting next to him and pressing right up against his body.

"Can we lie down?"

Gabriella nodded, so Troy laid down. Gabriella then copied him.

"I love you," Troy said, wrapping his arms around her.

"Love you, too," Gabriella said back, snuggling into his side and placing her head on his chest.

Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead softly. "Baby girl," he murmured, rubbing her arm.

"Wildcat," Gabriella murmured in return, snuggling further into him.

After a few minutes of lying in silence, Troy asked, "Do you want to get a bath to relax for a little longer?"

Sharpay and Zeke had full size bathrooms in all of their bedrooms since Sharpay was rich enough to afford a big

house.

Gabriella nodded.

Troy lifted Gabriella into his arms and carried her into the bathroom, where he started filling up the tub. It had

been a very long time since him and Gabriella had taken a nice long, hot bath together. They had taken plenty of

showers, but baths were a lot more relaxing and less rushed, and at the time, they really needed that.

"I really love you," Gabriella said, smiling.

"Love you, too," Troy said back.

"You always know how to make me feel better," Gabriella told Troy.

"Thanks," Troy said, kissing Gabriella's cheek.

* * *

An hour later, Troy and Gabriella, all dried off and dressed again, went back into the living room. "Sorry we

took so long," Gabriella apologized, "Troy and I decided to take a bath."

"It's okay," Sharpay said. "Zeke and I had fun with the kids. They're so adorable."

"What took you so long?" Brie asked, apparently not hearing what her mother had just said.

"Mommy and Daddy took a bath," Gabriella told her daughter.

"You can't! This isn't our house!" Brie said.

"Well sometimes Mommy and Daddy need to relax together," Troy told his daughter.

"Why wewe you doing it togethew?" Brie asked. "You said no one should go in the bathwoom if the doow is

shut!"

"That's right," Gabriella said to Brie, "You and Troy aren't allowed in the bathroom with me or Daddy, but I

said it was okay for Daddy to come in."

"You should go in time out!" little Troy said.

"Yeah! Bad Mommy and Daddy!" Brie agreed.

Gabriella, Troy, Sharpay, and Zeke all laughed. "No, we don't have to go in time out," Troy said. "But when

we get home, I know two people who do."

"Who?" Brie asked, confused. She didn't remember what had happened in the car.

"Yeah, who?" little Troy questioned, also confused.

"You two," their dad answered.

"We said sowy," Brie said.

"But you need to go in time out for a punishment. Mommy and Daddy are glad you're sorry, but they would

still like you to go in time out."

"Okay," both of the kids said reluctantly. "When we get home, we'll go in time out."

"Thank you," Troy said. "And next time, maybe you'll be nicer to Mommy and Daddy."


	4. Preschool

"Brie, Troy, what do you want for lunch at school tomorrow?" Gabriella asked. It was now the beginning of

September, and the next day was the first day of school for the kids, and for Troy and Gabriella, work. They had

put the kids in full day preschool, which was half a day of learning letters, numbers, colors, and shapes, then half

a day of day care. The twins needed the day care because of their parents' work.

"Peanut butter and jelly!" both the kids yelled.

"Okay," Gabriella said, getting out things from the kitchen cabinets and fridge to make the sandwiches with.

"Mommy, you can't have anymowe candy," little Troy said. "You'we fat." His mother was three months preg-

nant and beginning to show. When she had found out in July, she had already been through one month without

knowing it.

"Yeah!" Brie agreed. "You are fat like Santa Claus!"

"Kids!" their father, who was in the living room watching basketball, said sternly.

"What?" the twins both asked.

"Stop it. Your baby brother or sister is just growing inside Mommy's belly. She's not fat," Troy said. "You

know what, come here and sit with me for a minute."

Both the kids listened to their dad.

"When mommies have babies in their bellies, the babies grow and make their mommy's belly look bigger. Be-

fore your brother or sister is born, she's gonna get an even bigger belly, so please don't make fun of her," Troy ex-

plained.

"Wewe we ever in thewe?" Brie asked.

"Yes," Troy said. "All kids were. "Mommy and Daddy were in our mommies' bellies at a time, too."

"Oh," Brie said.

"Can she open her belly and take the baby out?" little Troy asked.

"I don't have a hole in my belly," Brie said.

"No, she can't take the baby out and no, there's no hole in your belly," Troy said.

"How will the baby come out?" little Troy asked.

"It will. You'll understand when you're older. I just wanted to let you know what's happening to Mommy. Now

you can go play," Troy said.

"Okay," Brie said, sliding off the sofa.

"Alright," little Troy said, also getting off the sofa.

"Wildcat, can you pick out clothes for the kids for tomorrow?" Gabriella asked.

"Sure," Troy answered.

"Thanks," Gabriella said.

"What exactly is going on tomorrow?" Troy asked.

"Well we're getting up, getting ready, getting the kids ready, then leaving. We don't have to be ay East High

until ten-thirty, right?"

"Right," Troy said. "Free period isn't until eleven, and that's when all the practices are." Troy and Gabriella

both worked in the drama club since Ms. Darbus had retired. When needed, Troy helped his still-working dad

with basketball coaching while Gabriella did drama club by herself.

Gabriella put the kids' sandwiches in the fridge, then put everything she had out away. She then got a cookie

for each of them while Troy got out their clothes for the next day. When they were both done, it was seven-thirty.

"Kids, time for bed," Gabriella said. "You have school tomorrow."

"I don't wanna go," Brie whined.

"You have to," Gabriella said. "You'll have fun once you get there."

"But I'm scared."

"I'm not!" little Troy said proudly.

"It'll be okay, Brie," Gabriella said comfortingly.

"But I won't know anyone."

"You'll know your brother."

"But he won't play with me."

"Troy, tomorrow I want you to be nice to your sister, okay?" Gabriella said to her son.

"Okay, Mommy," little Troy said.

"Alright, now let's get ready and go to bed."

* * *

_Beep! Beep!_ The alarm clock in Troy and Gabriella's bedroom went off. It was six-thirty. "Wildcat, wake up,"

Gabriella whispered in Troy's ear. She couldn't do much else because he was holding her awfully tightly against

him. Even after years of getting up for school, college, and work, he still never woke up with the alarm clock.

"What, my love?" Troy asked sleepily, his eyes half-open.

"The alarm went off," Gabriella told him.

Troy just groaned and pulled Gabriella even closer to him.

Gabriella kissed Troy's lips. "Come on, Wildcat," she said, "We had a whole summer to snuggle in bed and

sleep late."

"Summer wasn't long enough," Troy mumbled, closing his eyes all the way again after returning Gabriella's

kiss.

"Come on," Gabriella said, "We need to get the kids ready."

"I'm too comfy," Troy mumbled.

"I know, Wildcat, but we can snuggle a little later, alright?" Gabriella was really comfy, too; she loved the

feeling of being right up against Troy, feeling the warmth from his body.

"You're too cozy," Troy said sleepily, his eyes still refusing to open again.

"You're awfully comfy, too," Gabriella said, "And if it were up to me, we would stay here forever. But it's not

my choice."

"Okay," Troy said, letting his eyes open and his arms slide away from Gabriella.

"Thank you," Gabriella said. "Let's get something to wear and go take a shower."

"Okay," Troy said again, following Gabriella over to their closet.

After they both got the clothes they wanted to wear that day, Troy and Gabriella went in the bathroom, shut

the door and locked it, undressed, and got in the shower. They always showered together in the morning because

it was kind of a bonding time for them-along with nighttime of course. When they were done, they dries off and

got dressed before going downstairs to get breakfast. "Do you want cereal?" Gabriella asked Troy as she walked

into the kitchen.

"Sure," Troy answered.

Gabriella got bowls of cereal for both her and Troy, then say down at the dining room table with them. "I have

it ready," Gabriella said.

Troy sat down next to Gabriella and started eating. "I'm not used to waking up early," he said, still complain-

ing about having to get out of bed.

"I'm gonna have to start calling you Chad if you don't stop," Gabriella told Troy.

"Chad just likes to eat," Troy told Gabriella, reaching over to grab her hand. He was still in the mood to snug-

gle in addition to complain, and that was the closest he could get to it.

"Wildcat, did the snuggly-ness not wear off yet?" Gabriella asked affectionately.

"No, it didn't," Troy answered.

Gabriella pulled her chair closer to Troy so she could be right up against him. She was still in a snuggle mood,

too. "I love you," she said, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Love you, too," Troy said back, kissing her head gently.

In a few minutes, Troy and Gabriella were done eating. After cleaning up, they went upstairs to finish getting

ready for work. Troy got all the things they needed to bring and put his shoes on while Gabriella dried her hair

and combed it, then did a little make-up. After she got on her shoes, they went to get the kids up. "Troy, Brie,"

they said, each going into one of the twins' rooms.

"School!" little Troy shouted, springing out of bed and running over to get his outfit he was going to wear that

day.

"No," Brie groaned.

"I know who takes after you," Gabriella called to her husband Troy. Then, to Brie, she said, "You need to get

up."

"I don't wanna."

"Come on," Gabriella said gently. "We have to get you to school."

"No," Brie argued.

"Yes." Gabriella said.

"Mommy, no."

"Brie, yes."

"No."

"Wildcat, can you come here and help get Brie up?" Gabriella asked.

Troy came into the room. "Brie, you need to get up and get ready."

"No."

"Yes. You'll have fun at school. There'll be other kids."

"I'm scawed."

"It's okay," Gabriella said. "Mommy was scared to go to school when she was little, too."

"Well I am, too."

"But you need to get up. Troy's gonna play with you at school so you don't need to worry."

* * *

Troy found a parking space at the preschool. After finally getting Brie up, him and Gabriella had gotten both

the kids ready and left. "Okay," he said as he got out of the car.

Gabriella followed Troy and helped him get the kids out of the car. "Let's go in," she said.

"I'm scared," Brie whimpered.

"School!" little Troy yelled happily.

Troy picked up his daughter and carried her while Gabriella helped little Troy cross the parking lot and go into

the school.

"I'm scared," Brie said again when she got inside.

"Hi," little Troy said, going up to a random little boy, "My name's Troy Bolton. I play basketball."

"Hi," the little boy said, "Do you want to play racecars with me?"

"I'm gonna put you down now, Brie," Troy told his daughter.

Brie flung her arms around her father's neck and buried her face in his shoulder. "No, Daddy," she said.

"It'll be okay," Gabriella added.

"No," Brie said.

"Look, there's some little girls over there," Gabriella said, pointing to three little girls playing with at a play

kitchen.

"Hi," said a lady as she walked up to Troy, Gabriella, and Brie. "I'm Janet Kinson. I teach the preschool here."

"Hi," Gabriella said. "I'm Gabriella and this is my husband Troy, we're the Bolton's, and our kids are Troy and

Gabriella-named after us-but we call Gabriella Brie for short and that's what she goes by all the time."

"Okay," Mrs. Kinson said. "Is this Brie here?" She looked at Brie.

"Yeah," Gabriella said. "Troy's off playing with a little boy."

"Alright."

"Brie, you need to get down now," Troy told his daughter.

Brie shook her head no.

"We have lots of toys," Mrs. Kinson told her new student. "Do you want to come play?"

Brie shook her head no again.

"Abbie, can you come here?" Mrs. Kinson asked a little girl with light brown curly hair and green eyes. "I

know Abbie," she explained to Troy and Gabriella. "I'm actually her aunt. I'm going to introduce her to Brie."

"Good idea. Thank you," Gabriella said.

Abbie came over. "What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"This is Brie," her aunt told her. "Can you please play with her?"

"Okay," Abby said excitedly. "I'm Abbie," she added.

"Brie, go play with her," Troy said.

Brie, still being a bit shy, allowed her father to put her on the ground. She smiled and waved slightly to Abbie.

"Bye, Mommy," she said then, hugging Gabriella.

"Bye, Brie," Gabriella said, hugging her daughter back. "Be good."

Brie then went to Troy and hugged him. "Bye, Daddy."

Troy returned his daughter's hug gently. "Bye. Have fun."

"Troy, we're leaving!" Gabriella called to her son.

"Okay. I'm playing wacecaws!" little Troy said enthusiastically.

"Alright," Troy said. "Bye."

"Bye," little Troy said.

"I hope they're gonna be okay," Gabriella said as she walked out of the preschool with Troy.

"I think they will," Troy assured her with a kiss on the cheek.

"I guess they use red and white here, too," Gabriella said, talking about the colors that had been used in the

preschool for wall paint, carpet, and other things.

"Well out kids are Wildcats, just like us," Troy said, grabbing Gabriella's hand.

"Yes," Gabriella agreed. "They're now official Wildcats."


	5. Being Really Bad

"Okay," Troy said, "Kids, we're here." He had just gotten to the preschool with Gabriella to pick up the kids

from their first day of school.

"No!" little Troy said angrily, stomping his feet on the ground.

"Yes," Gabriella said. "You were here all day and you'll be coming back tomorrow."

"Mommy! Daddy!" Brie exclaimed happily, running over to her parents to hug them.

"Hi, Brie," Gabriella said.

"Did you have fun?" Troy asked.

Brie nodded. "But I'm happy you'we hewe now. I missed you."

"Aw," Troy said, "She's sweet, just like you."

"Troy, come here," Gabriella said. "We need to go."

"I'm not done playing wacecaws yet," little Troy said.

"You were playing racecars when we left," Troy said. "You had all day to."

Little Troy ignored his dad. "Come on, Jake," he said to the little boy who he had been playing with when he

first got to school, "I'm weady to race my caw!"

"Troy, let's go," Troy said.

"No," little Troy said. "I'm wacing my wacecaw!"

"You can finish tomorrow," Gabriella told him.

"No, I can't," little Troy argued, continuing to play.

"I'll get him," Troy said, going over to his son.

"Mommy can you hold me?" Brie asked.

Gabriella picked up Brie.

"Come on," Troy said, lifting up his son.

Little Troy started crying and screaming. "No! Daddy! I have to play wacecaws!"

"You can play tomorrow."

Troy hit his dad's cheek. "Let me play!"

"Troy Bolton, when you get home, you're going in time out," Troy said angrily. "You do not hit."

"I wanna play!"

"Too bad. We have to go."

Troy hit his dad, this time in the eye.

"Hey! You do not hit people in the eye! You are being very bad! You're going to sit in your room for a long

time when we get home and no dessert after dinner."

"You're mean."

Troy walked over to Gabriella, his son still screaming and crying.

"Mean," little Troy said, reaching over to hit his sister's arm, then his mother's cheek.

"Hey!" Troy said, grabbing his son's hand. "You do NOT hit your family."

Brie stared crying. "Twoy hit me."

"It's okay," Gabriella said, kissing her daughter's forehead. "Daddy's making him stop."

"You are in BIG trouble," Troy continued.

"No, you are, Daddy!"

"You now are in time out for even longer." Troy began walking out of the building with his son, Gabriella fol-

lowing with Brie.

"No!" little Troy screamed.

"Yes. I am very disappointed in you."

At that moment, they got to the car. Troy and Gabriella put their kids in their seats, then got in themselves.

"No!!!!!" little Troy screamed.

"Are you okay, honey?" Troy asked Gabriella, leaning over to kiss her hurt cheek. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Gabriella said.

"I shouldn't have let him be within reach of you or Brie."

"Well he shouldn't have hit."

"I know, but I feel bad." Then, raising his voice a little, he asked, "Brie, are you okay?"

"It huwts," Brie cried.

"I feel so bad," Troy said to Gabriella as he began driving home.

"It's okay," Gabriella assured him, reaching over to place her hand on his arm comfortingly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Troy said.

"I wanna go back!" little Troy screamed, kicking the back of his dad's seat since he was right behind him.

"Troy, stop," Troy said sternly.

"No."

"You are in huge trouble. You're getting some of your toys taken away, too."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes, you are. Nice boys don't act like this."

"I am nice!"

"Well you're not being nice, now," Troy said.

"And you're going to have to apologize, too," Gabriella added firmly.

"Fow what?" little Troy asked in a whiny, pouting voice.

"Hitting everyone," Gabriella said.

"I wasn't being mean!"

"Yes you were, and you should be sorry."

A few minutes of nothing but little Troy's screaming and crying was heard. When his dad pulled into the drive-

way of the house, he still didn't stop. "Alright," Troy said. He got his son out of the car and carried him into the

house, being careful not to get hit again.

"I wanna go back!" little Troy cried.

"You are going in time out," Troy said, walking up the stairs with his son as Gabriella and Brie came into the

house.

"No!" little Troy screamed.

Troy went into his son's room and put him on his bed, then sat down next to him to supervise the time out ses-

sion.

"I wanna go to school!" little Troy screamed.

"Wildcat, are you okay?" Gabriella asked, going into her son's room and hugging her husband.

"I'm fine," Troy assured her, hugging her back as he stroked her hair gently. "And I love you."

"Love you, too," Gabriella said.

Troy then kissed Gabriella, and she kissed him back.

"Yucky!" little Troy said, hitting both his parents' arms. "Stop!"

"You know what, you need to be in here even longer," Troy said, almost yelling.

"I'm taking away five toys," Gabriella added. She picked up five toys from the floor and walked out of her son's

room, going into the one she shared with Troy so she could hide the toys.

"You are very bad," Troy said to his son. "You are staying in time out until dinnertime."

"That's too long!" little Troy whined.

"Not for your behavior," Troy said.

"I wanna go play!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Daddy, let me play now!"

"No, you can't play. You were naughty."

Just then, Gabriella came back into the room and went right over to her husband Troy and wrapped her arms a-

round him.

"What's up with you?" Troy asked gently, hugging Gabriella back. "You're so affectionate all of a sudden."

"I wanna be clingy," Gabriella answered, snuggling against Troy's chest.

"Aw, you're sweet," Troy told her, kissing her head.

"Mommy, Daddy, you're yucky!" little Troy yelled.

"No we aren't," Troy said, "We're just being loving."

"That's yucky."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is. Hugs and kisses awe fow babies."

"No they aren't," Gabriella said, "Mommy and Daddy love each other and we love getting hugs and kisses."

"But they're for tiny babies, like the new bwother or sister I'm gonna get that I don't want." He sat on his bed

and started screaming, "I don't want a bwother or sister! Mommy, get rid of it!"

"Troy, stop it right now," Troy said, yelling.

"Daddy, this is Mommy's fault. She made hewself get a baby in her belly!"

"No, this isn't her fault."

"It has to be."

"Troy, you need to stop with the bad attitude and start being nice."

"Come on, Wildcat, let's leave him alone," Gabriella said.

Troy walked out of the room with Gabriella, leaving their son crying on his bed.

"Mommy, can I have a snack?" Brie asked sweetly as she walked out of her room.

"Okay," Gabriella said. "I'll get one for you in a minute." Then, turning to Troy, she said, "Meet me in our

room, okay?"

Troy nodded in agreement.

Gabriella walked downstairs, got Brie a snack, then went up to see Troy in their room. When she got in there,

the first thing she did was start to sob and hug him tightly.

"Shhh, shhh, it's alright," Troy said affectionately, kissing Gabriella's cheek as she hugged her back.

"O-Our s-son d-doesn't l-like m-me," she sobbed.

"It's okay," Troy said, "I'm sure he's just saying that to make you mad."

"H-He's gonna h-hate o-our b-baby," she said, hugging him tighter.

"It's okay," Troy said in a comforting voice.

"I-I'm g-gonna love a-all our kids," she sobbed.

"Gabby, baby girl," Troy said, rubbing her back soothingly, "No matter what happens, I'll still love you."

Gabriella buried her face in Troy's shoulder.

"I know, I know," Troy said. "I think maybe we just need some alone time. We haven't been alone at home for a

long time."

"I-I n-need a break," Gabriella sobbed.

"It's okay," Troy said, kissing Gabriella's head. "I'll call my parents and see if they can watch the kids all day on

Saturday while you and me have time at home to just relax by ourselves. I love the kids, but I do miss uninterrup-

ted kisses and snuggles."

"M-Me, too," Gabriella said.

"Okay," Troy said. "It'll be alright. I love you."

"L-Love you."

"Just kiss me and make it all better."

Gabriella lifted her head and kissed Troy's lips with affection.

After Troy kissed Gabriella back, he asked, "All better, my love?"

Gabriella nodded and smiled.

"Alright," Troy said. "And I promise that tonight I'll be extra snuggly in bed."

"Can you be snuggly now?" Gabriella asked.

Troy nodded and cuddled Gabriella closer to him. "I love you," he said.

"Love you," Gabriella said back, snuggling further into him.

"Let's lie down for a minute," Troy suggested, resting his head on the pillow of the bed and gently pulling Gab-

riella on top of him.

Gabriella smiled and closed her eyes to relax. But in a minute, Brie came in. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"We're hugging," Troy answered.

"It looks like you're going to bed."

"Mommy and Daddy needed to relax for a minute," Gabriella said, not moving off of Troy.

"Oh."

"Brie," Troy said, "Would you like to go to Grandpa and Grandma's house Saturday?"

Brie jumped up and down. "Yay!" she shouted.

"Well Daddy's gonna call them and ask if you and your brother can go over."

"Yay!"

"Honey, can I get up so I can call my parents?" Troy asked Gabriella.

Gabriella slid off of Troy and got off of the bed.

Troy grabbed his cell phone off the end table and dialed his parents' number.

"Hello?" Mr. Bolton answered the phone.

"Hey, it's me, Troy," Troy said.

"Oh, hi, Troy. What's up? Wildcats had a pretty good first day of practice, didn't they?"

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "But I called to see if the kids could come over Saturday."

"I think it would be okay."

"Do you wanna ask Mom?"

"Alright, hold on a minute." After a couple minutes of not speaking, Mr. Bolton got back on the phone. "She

said they could. What time will they come?"

"Is ten in the morning okay? Gabby and I want to have an "us" day."

"That's fine."

"Can I talk to Gwandpa?" Brie asked.

"Brie wants to talk to you," Troy said.

"Okay," Mr. Bolton said, "You can put her on."

Troy put the phone up to Brie's ear. "Hello?" she said.

"Hi, Brie."

"Twoy hit me today."

"He did? Did he go in time out?"

"Yeah."

"Did you have fun in school today?"

"Yeah, I played."

"That's good."

"Well I'm done talking now."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

After saying bye to his dad, Troy hung up the phone. "Well, you're going to Grandma and Grandpa's."

"Yay!" Brie said, jumping up and down.

Troy and Gabriella smiled. Their daughter was making them happy along with the thought of spending an en-

tire day alone with each other.


	6. Alone Day

**This chapter is rated T, just letting you all know. I don't know if you'll find it necessary, but just to be **

**safe:) Enjoy!**

"Finally, we're alone," Troy said, sitting down on the sofa next to Gabriella. They had just gotten back from

dropping the kids off at Troy's parents' house.

"I know," Gabriella said, snuggling up to Troy and resting her head on his shoulder.

Troy stroked Gabriella's hair gently and kissed her forehead.

"What do you wanna do?" Gabriella asked.

"Kisses, snuggles, hugs," Troy answered.

"Sounds nice," Gabriella said, snuggling further into Troy.

"I love you," Troy said.

"Love you, too," Gabriella said back.

Troy kissed Gabriella's cheek softly. "Wanna go take a hot bath?"

Gabriella nodded. "That's always relaxing."

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "And we don't have to worry about rushing around to get done in the bathroom before

one of the kids wakes up in the morning."

"I love our kids, but I miss the "us" time," Gabriella said.

"So do I," Troy said. "And now that you're pregnant again, you really need it."

"Yeah," Gabriella agreed, closing her eyes.

"Are you sleepy?" Troy asked affectionately, stroking Gabriella's arm and letting his head rest on hers.

Gabriella nodded.

"If you're sleepy, you should get some rest, baby girl. Let's go take a nap. We can get a bath when we wake up,

alright?"

"Alright."

Troy lifted Gabriella into his arms and stood up while holding her. He carried her upstairs and into their room,

then laid her on the bed and tucked her in before getting on next to her and cuddling her close. "Precious Gabby,"

he murmured as he kissed the top of her head. "You're so precious and wonderful; you're more than I ever had

dreamed of. I don't know how I deserved such a sweet, loving, precious girl like you."

"You loved me for who I am," Gabriella answered sleepily. "But what I don't understand is what made you,

the star of the Wildcats, chose me out of all the girls in school. You could've had any one of them."

"Because you loved me the way I was. You didn't care if I was the best basketball player or not. You loved me

even after I made mistakes," Troy answered. "And when you had to move before prom and graduation, my heart

broke, and I knew I needed to be with you and that I wanted you and only you for my forever love."

"You're so sweet," Gabriella said, smiling and snuggling into Troy as happy tears filled her eyes.

"So are you," Troy said, kissing Gabriella's nose, then her lips.

When Troy kissed her lips, Gabriella kissed back. "I really love you," she said, leaning back against him.

"Love you, too," Troy said back.

"What do you love about me?" Gabriella asked. "Pick ten reasons, please." She looked up at him with plead-

ing eyes.

"Only ten?" Troy questioned. "I can't pick just ten."

Gabriella giggled. "You have to." She then reached up and pushed Troy's bangs out of his face.

"Okay, fine, I'll try," Troy agreed, pretending to be mad.

"Alright," Gabriella said. "Let me hear."

"Okay, you're affectionate with me, you're cute and petite so I feel like it's my responsibility to take care of

you, you love me for who I am, you support me, you take care of me when I'm sick or hurt, you make dinner for

me, you don't pick fights with me, when you say you need alone time you really mean alone with me time, you

make me feel better if I'm stressed out, and you gave me two kids-soon to be three."

"Aw," Gabriella said, snuggling far into Troy and kissing his cheek. "I love you so much; you're so sweet."

"Love you, too," Troy said, pressing his lips onto Gabriella's nose. "Can you tell me what you love about me

now?"

"Okay," Gabriella said. "Let's see....well you love me no matter what, you say I'm pretty even when I'm eight

months pregnant, you help me with things around the house, you're very affectionate, you protect me from every-

thing I need protection from, you cry when I cry, you say 'I love you' at random moments, you support me, you al-

ways have time to talk if I need to talk to you, you pick me up in your arms and carry me around the house, and

you never pick fights with me."

"Honey, that's eleven things."

"You didn't say I could only do ten!"

"You're silly," Troy said, nuzzling Gabriella's nose with his own.

Gabriella smiled and nuzzled him back.

"You look really sleepy," Troy said, pulling Gabriella closer.

"I am," Gabriella said, yawning.

"Then let's get some rest," Troy said affectionately.

Gabriella, getting into a comfortable position but still staying snuggled right up against Troy, closed her eyes.

"You have a good nap," she murmured.

"Thanks," Troy said, kissing her cheek. "You, too." He then closed his eyes, too, making sure Gabriella was

wrapped protectively and comfortably in his arms.

* * *

Two and a half hours later, Troy and Gabriella opened their eyes. "It's one o' clock," Gabriella said, looking at

the clock that was on the end table next to her.

"Do you wanna have lunch in bed?" Troy asked, kissing Gabriella's cheek.

"You mean like breakfast in bed?" Gabriella asked.

Troy nodded.

"Sure," Gabriella said, smiling. "You know, I really love you for all this."

"I love you, too," Troy said.

"You do so much for me," Gabriella said. "And I just want to let you know that I really appreciate it."

"Thanks," Troy said, looking into Gabriella's eyes.

"Remember that time we were camping and I fell in the creek?"

"Yeah."

Flashback

_Gabriella was standing on a rock next to the creek watching Troy walk in the water with Chad. "Be careful,_

_Wildcat!" she said. Just then, she lost her balance and fell into the cold water._

_"Gabriella!" Troy exclaimed, walking over to Gabriella and helping her up. She was completely soaked and_

_she was shivering. "Are you okay?"_

_"Yes, I'm just cold and wet," she said as her teeth began to chatter._

_"You look freezing," Troy said._

_"Are you okay, Gabriella?" Taylor asked._

_Gabriella nodded._

_"You sure?" Sharpay asked._

_"Troy, is she okay?" Chad asked._

_"Yes," Gabriella said, answering Sharpay._

_"She's just freezing," Troy told Chad. "I'm going to take her back to the tent and get her dried off and warmed_

_up."_

_"Okay," Chad said. "We'll be here."_

_Troy and Gabriella started walking back. "Gabby, did you bring extra clothes with you?" Troy asked._

_"Yes," Gabriella said, still shivering._

_When they reached the tent, Troy got a blanket for Gabriella to dry herself off with. Gabriella got her other_

_clothes to change into. Then she got out of her wet clothes and took the blanket Troy gave her and started drying_

_herself off._

_"Are you sure you're okay?" Troy asked her, getting a second blanket for her to wrap up in._

_"Yes," Gabriella said. "I'm just cold." She wrapped the blanket around her and sat on Troy's lap, feeling his_

_arms around her waist._

_"Why don't you quick get your dry clothes on and then you can wear my jacket. It's a little thicker than yours,_

_so it'll be a bit warmer." He kissed her cheek gently._

_"Okay." Gabriella slid off of his lap and started getting dressed. Troy gave her his jacket, she put it on, and_

_then sat down next to Troy on their sleeping bag._

_"I'm sorry you fell in," Troy said. "I should've been with you making sure you were okay instead of seeing_

_how deep the water was."_

_"You have to stop blaming yourself on everything, Troy," Gabriella said gently._

_"But I'm being a really bad future husband to you, honey," he said._

_"No you're not, Wildcat," Gabriella said, leaning against his shoulder. "You're everything I could ever want."_

Flashback over

"And that time my mom thought you weren't right for me and you would comfort me every day?"

"Of course."

Flashback

_Gabriella hung up and put her phone back on the end table. "That was my mom," she told Troy._

_"I heard," Troy said. "I forgot we applied for jobs at the pet store." They had applied for the jobs about a_

_month ago, but the store had so many people applying, it would take a while for Troy and Gabriella to find out if_

_they got the jobs._

_"We're gonna find out if we got them tomorrow," Gabriella said. "I hope we did because I like animals."_

_"Someday we'll get a pet," Troy promised._

_"Wildcat, you're so sweet," Gabriella told Troy._

_"No, you are," Troy said._

_"Kiss me good night."_

_"Are you ordering me around?" asked Troy, pretending to be mad._

_"Yes," Gabriella said, laughing._

_Troy smiled and started kissing her. Gabriella kissed back. They licked each other's lips and Gabriella gently_

_love-bit Troy's. When they broke apart, Troy said, "I still haven't gotten over what a great kisser you are."_

_"You're pretty great, too," Gabriella said, looking into his eyes before snuggling into him. "I love you."_

_"I love you, too," Troy said, wrapping his arms around Gabriella and kissing her head._

_Gabriella hugged Troy back. "Good night, Wildcat."_

_"Good night, my love," Troy said._

_"Troy, I need to quick tell you something before I go to sleep," Gabriella said._

_"What is it?" asked Troy._

_"My mom's still annoyed that we're together. And she wants me to marry someone from Stanford still."_

_"Why?"_

_"She thinks you won't make enough money. And I wanted to tell you because I never keep secrets from you_

_and it bothers me that she doesn't want you to be my husband."_

_"Don't worry. Do you want to be my wife?"_

_"More than anything, Wildcat."_

_"Then just ignore it. Don't answer next time she calls. Okay?" Troy began gently stroking her hair._

_"Okay. Thanks, Wildcat. Good night."_

_"Good night, baby girl. I'll always love you."_

_"I'll always love you, too."_

Flashback over

"We have lots of good memories," Gabriella said.

"I know," Troy agreed. "Now let me go get us some lunch." He got out of bed and went downstairs and into

the kitchen. After making ham and cheese sandwiches for both him and Gabriella, he went back upstairs and sat

on the bed, handing one of the sandwiches to his wife.

"Thanks," Gabriella said, sitting up and taking a bite of her sandwich.

"You're welcome," Troy said, cuddling Gabriella close to him as he began eating.

"I love you," Gabriella said.

"Love you, too," Troy said back.

After a few minutes, the sandwiches were gone. "Can we take a bath now?" Gabriella asked.

"Sure," Troy said, getting out of bed and lifting Gabriella into his arms.

Gabriella smiled and wrapped her arms around Troy so she wouldn't fall.

"Let's go," Troy said, carrying Gabriella into the bathroom. Once in there, he started the water and put her

down on the ground gently. "You're so precious," he said.

"Thanks," Gabriella said, standing on her tiptoes so she could kiss Troy's cheek.

"Aw, do you need help?" Troy asked. He lifted Gabriella up a little so her face was level with his.

"Wildcat, I'm not a baby," Gabriella said, laughing.

"You're my baby," Troy said affectionately, lifting her all the way into his arms and holding her like a baby.

"Aw, look at your cute little cheeks," he said, acting like he was talking to a little baby. "And your adorable nose.

You're just the cutest baby."

"Wildcat, I'm not a baby," Gabriella said, still laughing.

"Yes you are," Troy insisted. "I need to take care of you, don't I?" Then, seeing that the tub was filled up, he

stopped the water and put Gabriella down. "Let me get the baby ready for her bath," he said, starting to undress

her.

"Okay, fine," Gabriella said, pretending to be annoyed. "I'll be your baby."

"Great," Troy said, kissing her nose.

After they were both finished undressing, Troy and Gabriella got in the tub and sat down, Gabriella leaning a-

gainst Troy. "This feels good," she commented.

"I know," Troy agreed. "So good."

"Can I wash you up?" Gabriella asked.

Troy nodded. "Of course you can. You can always. We do this every time we take a bath together."

Gabriella got the soap off the side of the tub, rubbed some on a washcloth, then began gently rubbing it over

Troy's body. "Feel good?" she asked.

"Yeah," Troy said, closing his eyes. "It always does."

"If the kids were here, they would say we were being bad."

"Why would they be in the bathroom with us, though?"

"That's right, they wouldn't. It would be too weird and embarrassing if they were."

"I know. The only one who has to see me taking a bath with you is you."

"Yeah, same here. But we're used to it because we've been doing it for so long and we're totally comfortable a-

round each other."

"I know," Troy said. "We've been doing it since we were engaged."

"Do you wanna wash me now?" Gabriella asked as she finished soaping Troy up.

"Okay," Troy said. He took the soap from Gabriella and rubbed it on his hands, then on Gabriella's skin.

Gabriella giggled and shivered slightly.

"Are you cold?" Troy asked, wrapping both his arms around Gabriella's waist and kissing her cheek.

"Wildcat, your hands are cold," Gabriella told him. "And your fingers are tickling me." She continued gig-

gling.

"You're ticklish," Troy told her.

"I think you're trying to tickle me," Gabriella said.

Troy rested his chin on Gabriella's shoulder. "You look beautiful," he said, rubbing her side, then her arm,

with his hand.

"Really?" Gabriella asked, looking into his eyes. "I'm wet in a bathtub. I can't look that great."

"To me you do," Troy told her.

"You're crazy," Gabriella said.

"Gabby, I know what you're thinking, and just because you're pregnant doesn't mean you're less beautiful than

you were before. It was the same when you were pregnant with the twins."

"I know, but I still think you're crazy."

"How about I just finish washing you and then we can relax in here for a little?"

"Sounds good," Gabriella said.

Troy let go of Gabriella and put began to finish soaping her up, being careful not to tickle her anymore.

"That feels good," Gabriella said.

"I'm glad," Troy told her as he finished.

"Let's rinse off," Gabriella suggested.

"Okay," Troy agreed.

After rinsing off, Troy and Gabriella just sat in the tub for a little while and talked. When they were done, they

got out. "I'll get us some towels," Gabriella said, opening the closet. She took out two towels and tossed one to

Troy before wrapping the other around herself.

"Thanks," Troy said, wrapping it around him. "Let's go in our room to dry off and get dressed."

Gabriella agreed and followed Troy into the bedroom. They dried each other off, then got dressed. "I really

love you," she said as she sat down on the bed.

"I love you, too," Troy said, sitting down next to Gabriella and kissing her lips.

Gabriella kissed Troy back, both passionately and affectionately. She loved him more than she could ever say

with words.


	7. Ballet Class

**The ballet/dance terms used in here-I have a little glossary in my profile if you wanna see it:)**

"Wildcat," Gabriella said, going into the living room where Troy was and sitting down next to him on the

sofa.

"Yeah?" Troy asked.

"What would you think if I signed Brie up for ballet class? The first class if the year is Wednesday. I just read

about a dance studio in the newspaper and they're taking last minute sign ups."

"Aw, I think that would be pretty cute; we would have a dancer and a basketball player."

"Well I'm gonna ask her first. I think she's in her room." Gabriella stood up and walked upstairs. She went into

Brie's room. "Brie, would you like to take ballet?"

"What's that?" Brie asked.

"Dancing," Gabriella told her. "You learn how to dance."

"Like the movie of you and Daddy dancing? I don't think I wanna," Brie said. "I don't wanna dance with

boys." Brie was talking about the East High Senior Year play where her parents were dancing with each other on

stage. Gabriella had gotten a DVD of it for her husband Troy on the birthday he had right before the twins were

born. Of course the kids were curious about it and wanted to see it, so Gabriella had let them.

"No, it's not dancing with boys," Gabriella said. "Mommy will show you what it is. Come into the computer

room."

Brie followed her mother into the family's computer room. "Whay awe we hewe?" she asked.

"I'm gonna show you ballerinas dancing," Gabriella said, going online and doing a search for _The Nutcracker._

She found a video of the snowflake dance, which was a bunch of ballerinas in white tutus representing snow-

flakes falling from the sky. Pushing play, she said, "This is what it is."

Brie watched intently. "Wow! I wanna do that!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down when the video was all

done.

"Well you'll need to start at the basic steps," Gabriella told her. "You won't do that right away."

"I'm gonna be a ballewina!" Brie exclaimed.

"Okay," Gabriella said, "I'll call the dance studio. You'll be starting on Wednesday."

"How many day is that?"

"Let's see, today's Sunday, so three more days."

"Yay!" Brie clapped excitedly.

"And today we'll go to the store and get you some ballet slippers, a leotard, a skirt, and some tights."

"Do I need to weaw that fow ballet?"

"Yes."

"Is Twoy gonna do ballet, too?" Brie asked.

"No, he likes basketball," Gabriella answered.

"Good. I don't want him in my ballet lesson."

"Brie, that's not very nice."

"But he's mean," Brie said.

"Who's mean?" her dad asked as he walked up the stairs.

"Twoy," Brie answered. Then, excitedly, she said, "Daddy! I'm gonna go to ballet!"

"You're gonna be a good ballerina," Troy said.

"I wanna be able to do what those ladies did in that movie."

"What movie?" Troy asked, confused.

"Oh," Gabriella said. "I showed her the snowflake dance from the Nutcracker on the computer so she could

see what ballet was."

"Oh," Troy said.

"And I'm gonna dance like them!" Brie said happily.

* * *

"Are you ready?" Gabriella asked. It was Wednesday evening, and Brie was going to her first ballet class.

"Yeah," Brie said, walking over to her mom. She was wearing a black leotard with a matching skirt, pink

tights, and little pink ballet slippers.

"Okay, let's go then," Gabriella said. She walked over to the door, Brie following her. But then she remem-

bered something. "Wildcat," she called, "Can you come kiss me? I'm taking Brie to ballet."

Troy came down the stairs and walked over to Gabriella. He pressed his lips onto Gabriella's.

Gabriella kissed back. "Thank you," she said.

"Daddy, I want you to kiss me, too, but not yucky like you kiss Mommy."

"Okay," Troy said. He bent down and kissed his daughter's cheek. "Bye, Brie. Have fun."

"Bye, Daddy," Brie said.

"Bye, Wildcat," Gabriella said, hugging Troy.

"Bye," Troy said, hugging Gabriella back.

"Mommy, why do you call Daddy Wildcat? Why don't you call him by his weal name?" Brie questioned.

"Do you know his real name?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah," Brie answered, nodding. "His name's Daddy."

Gabriella and Troy both laughed a little. "Well actually Daddy's name is Troy," Gabriella said.

"That's my bwother," Brie said.

"Well Mommy and Daddy named you and your brother after us. Mommy's name is Gabriella, and so is yours,"

Troy said.

"No, my name's Bwie," Brie said.

"Well that's what you go by, but your full name is Gabriella," Troy said.

"Weally?"

"Yes, now I think you should go to ballet."

"Oh, ballet!" Brie exclaimed. "Mommy, let's go."

"Okay," Gabriella said, opening the door. "Let's go."

"Bye," Troy said as he shut the door after Gabriella and Brie walked out.

"Let's get in the car," Gabriella said, helping Brie into the backseat, then getting into the drivers' seat herself.

"I'm excited!" Brie said happily.

Gabriella pulled out of the driveway and drove to the dance studio, listening to Brie talk about how excited

she was for the whole ten minute drive. "Alright," she said when she had found a parking space, "Let's go in."

Brie jumped out of the car.

"Wait for Mommy," Gabriella said. She went over to her daughter and helped her cross the parking lot and go

into the building.

"Whewe do I do ballet?" Brie asked.

"We have to go in the waiting room," Gabriella told her daughter, leading her over to a chair. "You can sit

down."

"Okay," Brie said, sitting in the chair. She looked around at the other little girls waiting for their class. Sud-

denly she saw someone she knew. "Hi, Abbie," she said, running up to her friend from preschool.

"Brie!" Abbie exclaimed. "I never knew you wewe coming hewe."

"I'm doing ballet!" Brie said, jumping up and down.

Just then, the door to the ballet room opened and a lady with medium blonde hair walked out. "Okay, it's time

for ballet class," she said. "I would like all the parents to come in so I can get the names and ages of your girls."

"Brie," Gabriella said, "Come here."

Brie went over to her mom. "Let's go in!"

Gabriella took Brie into the ballet room. The floor appeared to be made of glass, though it was really just a

Marley style floor-the kind ballet dancers should use. There were barres in the middle of the room and a mirror

all along one wall.

"Hi," said the ballet teacher to Gabriella. "I'll need your mom's name and your little sister's."

"Oh, she's my daughter," Gabriella told the teacher, trying not to sound rude.

"Really? You look so young to be her mother. Well anyway, what's your name then?"

"Gabriella Bolton."

"Okay," said the teacher, writing Gabriella's name on an notepad. "And what's your daughter's name?"

"Brie Bolton," Gabriella answered.

"Pretty name; I like it." Then, to Brie, she said, "Hi, Brie. I'm Miss Emmy."

"I wanna learn ballet!" Brie said happily.

"You will. Let me finish talking to your mommy first." Miss Emmy turned back to Gabriella. "Alright, well if

you want you can watch the class for today. But in the future, we would like parents to stay out of the room be-

cause it's really a distraction for the girls. But occasionally we'll have days where parents can watch."

Gabriella nodded to show she understood.

"Alright, now just for safety, I need to know who's she allowed to go home with besides you."

"Well sometimes my husband-and her father-Troy might come to get her. His last name is the same as mine.

And that would pretty much be it."

"Okay, and in case of an emergency, can I have your phone and cell phone numbers?"

Gabriella gave the home phone number along with both her and Troy's cell phone numbers.

"Well thank you. Brie, you can go over to the ballet barres."

Brie ran over to one of the barres.

Gabriella, deciding she should call Troy so he knew she was going to watch the ballet class, left the room for a

minute, called him on her cell phone, then went back in and sat down in one of the chairs that was in the corner

of the room.

"Okay, girls," Miss Emmy was saying, "We're going to learn the five positions of ballet. This is first position."

She put her heels together and spread her feet out so they made a straight horizontal line. Then, she put her arms

in front of her so that they were making a circle. "Now you try it."

All the girls tried to copy their teacher, but were having trouble.

"Alright," Miss Emmy said, going around to each girl and adjusting her feet-as far as they could go without

hurting the girls-and arms to first position. "You won't be able to put your feet in a straight line right away," she

explained. "It takes practice." Once all the girls were doing first position as well as they could, she said, "Now

here's second position." After they did that and she corrected them, she had them do the last three positions.

"Alright, now we're going to do tondus." She took one of her feet, pointed her toes, turned her foot to the side so

her heel was turned towards the ceiling, and let her still pointed toes stay on the floor.

"That's easy!" one of the girls said, trying to copy her teacher.

"That's not correct," Miss Emmy said, looking at her student's foot. "What I want you to do is do it one at a

time and I'm going to help you do it the right way. If you don't learn the right way now, you'll get confused when

you get to be big ballerinas. Brie, can you go first?"

Brie picked up one of her feet, pointed her toes, then put her foot on the ground, her heel facing backwards

and her toes facing straight forward.

"Okay," Miss Emmy said, "That's a good start, but you need to do a turn out during your tondu. A turn out is

when your heel faces the ceiling and your foot isn't in a straight line." She took Brie's foot and gently moved it

to how it was supposed to be. "Do you feel the difference?"

Brie nodded.

"Alright, good. You can stop doing the tondu now."

Brie listened to her teacher. When the other girls were done with their tondus, it was time to learn plies. "Now

a plie," Miss Emmy said, "Is just a bending of the knees. So what I want you to do is put one hand on the barre

and the other on your side. And I would like your feet in first position."

All the girls did as they were told.

Miss Emmy corrected each girls' foot position and then said, "Alright, now just slowly bend your knees." As

she spoke, she demonstrated what the move was supposed to look like. "Now let's try it one at a time."

Two girls went, then it was Brie's turn. She bent her knees slowly, but lifted her heels off the ground.

"Your heels need to stay on the ground," Miss Emmy said.

Brie let her feet lie flat and tried again.

"Good." The rest of the girls did their plies, then Miss Emmy said, "Okay, well that's all we have time for to-

day. You all did a great job and I'll see you next time."

Brie ran over to Gabriella, a smile on her face. "I was doing ballet!" she said happily.

"I know, and you were great," Gabriella said. She hadn't thought her daughter would really like it after seeing

how much the girls were corrected.

"It was fun!" Brie said.

"I'm glad you had fun. Now let's go home and tell Daddy about it," Gabriella said.

"Okay," Brie said happily, walking out of the room with Gabriella.

* * *

"Daddy, I had fun!" Brie said as soon as she arrived home with Gabriella and saw her father.

"That's great," Troy said.

"They really work hard," Gabriella added.

"Well they can't work too hard if Brie liked it," Troy said.

"Well it was a lot of correcting," Gabriella said. "And when we got there, Brie's teacher thought I was her sis-

ter instead of her mother."

"Well remember that lady who we got her package one time?" Troy asked.

"What lady?" Gabriella asked, confused.

"We got a package, so we opened it, then found out it wasn't for us. Then we returned it and the lady was all

mad and stuff. Remember that?"

"Oh, that. Yeah, and she thought we were sophomores or something."

"Exactly. People always think we're way younger than we are."

"Mommy, you and Daddy awen't young," Brie commented.

"Well that's something we don't hear every day," Troy said.

"Where's Troy?" Gabriella asked.

"Oh no! I forgot all about him!" Troy exclaimed. "He was being so quiet, so I decided to watch TV, and then I

forgot he was even in the house!"

"What? You forgot about your own son? Troy Bolton, he could be hurt! I really hate you right now!" Gabriella

yelled with unexpected anger.

"Mommy, don't yell," Brie said.

"Shut up, Brie," Gabriella said rudely. "Get in your room."

"I'll go check on him," Troy said, quickly running upstairs with Gabriella and Brie following him. After Brie

went crying into her room, Troy and Gabriella went into their son's room. They found him lying on the floor.

"Troy," Gabriella said to her son in a panic, "Wake up!"

Troy didn't move.

"TROY BOLTON, I HATE YOU!" Gabriella screamed to her husband. "I REALLY HATE YOU!"

"I'm sorry," Troy said gently.

Gabriella picked up her son. Just as she did, his eyes opened. "Mommy, I hit my head," he told her.

"Are you okay?" Gabriella asked worriedly, kissing her son's forehead. "What happened? How did you hit it?"

"I bumped it on my bed," little Troy answered. "And then I fell asleep."

Gabriella decided not to tell her son he had most likely fainted; it would scare him since he was only three.

"Well why don't you lie down in your bed and rest?" Gabriella suggested. "I need to talk to Daddy."

"Okay," little Troy said.

Gabriella put her son on his bed, then said, "Come on, Troy, let's go in our room."

"Mommy, I'm in my woom," little Troy said, thinking his mother was talking to him.

"Mommy's sorry," Gabriella said. "She was talking to Daddy."

"Oh," little Troy said.

Gabriella then walked out of her son's room and into her and Troy's, with Troy following her. Once they got in

there, she shut the door. "Okay," she said angrily, "He could've died. I hate you."

"But I love you," Troy said.

"Well I really hate you." Angry and sad tears filled Gabriella's eyes.

"I'm sorry," Troy said sincerely, "I'm really sorry. I should've been paying more attention and I shouldn't have

been so lazy. It's my fault; I'm not gonna deny it."

"Sorry i-isn't good e-enough," Gabriella said, still angry. "M-My son c-could have d-died."

"I know. I realize that. And I regret not paying more attention," Troy said. "I really do. Please forgive me."

Gabriella sat down on the bed and didn't answer.

Troy knew he should just give Gabriella some alone time. He walked out of the room and went downstairs.

"W-Where did you go, Troy?" Gabriella asked as she wiped the last tears from her eyes. She then left the

room and went downstairs, where she saw Troy sitting on the sofa, looking very dejected. "I-I'm sorry," she said,

starting to sob again. She ran over to him, sat down next to him, and hugged him tightly as she let her head rest

on his shoulder.

"It's okay," Troy said gently, hugging her back.

"I-I d-don't hate y-you," Gabriella said. "I-I love y-you."

"It's alright," Troy said, rubbing Gabriella's back gently. "I forgive you."

"Thanks," Gabriella said, looking at Troy and smiling a faint smile. "And I forgive you, too, Wildcat."

Troy and Gabriella then kissed each other passionately. Everything was okay again.


	8. Birthdays

"Wildcat, wake up." Gabriella spoke the familiar words she had to speak every morning in attempt to get Troy

woken up and out of bed.

"It's Saturday," Troy groaned, his eyes refusing to open. He took away one of the arms he had wrapped around

Gabriella and pulled the covers over his head.

Gabriella copied Troy, then said, "Please get up, Wildcat. It's the day of the twins' birthday party." It was now

late November, and the twins had turned four the previous day, which was a Friday. However, since Friday was

the day after Thanksgiving and a weekday, they were having their party Saturday. "Come on, yesterday we had

off work and you got to sleep in. We have off Monday, too. And of course Sunday. So come on or no kisses for

a year."

"Do you really think you could stay with that punishment?" Troy asked sleepily. "It would be a punishment

for you, too."

"I'm not serious," Gabriella said. "I'm just desperate to get you up and out of bed."

"Mommy, can I have breakfast?" came little Troy's voice through the door, followed by a knock. "Daddy, awe

you and Mommy awake? I want to eat."

"Come on," Gabriella said to Troy. "Your son's hungry. Let's get up."

Troy just pulled Gabriella closer to him. "No," he moaned. "I wanna snuggle."

"We snuggled all night," Gabriella pointed out.

"It wasn't enough," Troy protested.

Gabriella took one of her hands and pushed the covers off both her and Troy's faces. "Come on, let's get up,"

she said.

"Daddy! Mommy!" little Troy called desperately through the door.

"We're coming," Gabriella called back.

"It's too cold to get up," Troy complained.

"Well then you should have slept in something other than your Wildcats shorts."

"So you blame me?"

"I'll get up and get you a sweatshirt. Then you won't have an 'I'm cold' excuse." Gabriella wriggled out of

Troy's arms and got of bed. She then went over to the closet, grabbed a sweatshirt, and tossed it to Troy. It landed

on his face.

"Baby girl! Why'd you do that?" Troy complained.

"Come on," Gabriella said, pulling on sweat pants since she had only been wearing one of Troy's shirts and

her underwear that night.

"Come back to bed," Troy mumbled.

"Mommy! I'm stawving!" little Troy yelled.

"I know, I know, I'm coming," Gabriella said, frustrated. "Wildcat, out of bed now." She then opened the door

of the room.

"Whewe's Daddy?" little Troy asked.

"Being lazy," Gabriella answered.

"I went potty in my bed," said Brie, sounding upset, as she came out of her room.

"Brie, you're four," Gabriella said. "You need to try not to have accidents anymore." Both of her kids had ac-

cidents once in a while, but she wanted to break the habit before they got in kindergarten-which would be in two

years.

"I'm sowy," Brie said, still very upset.

"Wildcat, get up now! Brie's peeing in her bed, Troy's hungry, and I'm trying to take control of everything,"

Gabriella called, very annoyed.

"I'm coming," Troy said, throwing on his sweatshirt as he walked out of him and Gabriella's room. "Sorry."

"You take Troy downstairs and get him something to eat. I'll clean Brie up," Gabriella said. "And put her

sheets in the washer."

"Okay," Troy said. "Come on, Troy. Let's go get something to eat."

"I'm stawving!" little Troy said, running downstairs. His dad followed him.

"Alright, Brie," Gabriella said, sighing as she turned towards her daughter. "Let's get you changed. Come into

your room."

Brie obeyed her mother.

Gabriella followed Brie into her room. "Okay," she said, taking an outfit out of her closet.

"Mommy, I wanna wear a dwess fow my pawty," Brie whined, seeing her mother had selected a light green

sweat suit.

"You can get changed later," Gabriella said.

"Mommy, I wanna wear a dwess," Brie whined.

Just then, from downstairs, Gabriella heard, "Daddy! I didn't want Cheewios! I wanted Cocoa Puffs! And I

like bweakfast with gwape juice! You didn't give me gwape juice!"

"We're out of Cocoa Puffs," Troy said. "So you're getting Cheerios."

Gabriella sighed. So many problems. "Alright, Brie," she said, "Mommy needs the clothes you went potty in

so she can wash them."

Brie got changed herself, then handed her mother her pajamas. "Hewe you go," she said. "Will I put my dwess

on later?"

"Yes, you will. Thank you for listening," Gabriella said. She went over to her daughter's bed and took the

sheets off.

"Don't!" Brie yelled.

"Mommy has to wash them," Gabriella said. She then took both the sheets and the pajamas downstairs to the

washer. After putting them in, she went into the dining room to help Troy, since little Troy still seemed to be giv-

ing him a hard time.

"Mommy! Daddy didn't give me Cocoa Puffs!" little Troy exclaimed.

"We were all out," Troy told Gabriella. "All we have is a box of Cheerios."

"Calm down, little Wildcat," Gabriella said to her son, "We don't have any more Cocoa Puffs."

"Daddy, go get mowe," little Troy ordered.

"No," Troy said.

"Stupid Daddy," little Troy said, running up to Troy and hitting his arm.

"Hey!" Gabriella said, picking her son up.

Little Troy laughed. "I said 'stupid Daddy!'" he exclaimed.

"It's not funny," Gabriella said sternly. "It's mean. Go in time out."

"And you're not allowed to hit," Troy added.

"But I wanted Cocoa Puffs!"

"Too bad," Troy said. "Now go with Mommy to time out."

Gabriella took little Troy upstairs and into his room. "You were very bad," she said. "You can't always get

your own way."

"But today's my biwthday pawty," little Troy argued.

"It doesn't matter," Gabriella said. "Now you need to stay in here with Mommy for a little bit."

"I hate time out," little Troy said.

Just then, Troy came into the doorway of his son's room. "Honey, wanna get a quick shower with me?" he

asked Gabriella.

"Don't call me honey!" little Troy said. "And I'm not allowed in the bathwoom when you'we taking a shower."

"I wasn't talking to you," Troy said. "I was talking to Mommy."

"Yucky! You said being in the bathwoom with someone was yucky!" little Troy said.

"For Mommy and Daddy it's different," Troy said, getting impatient.

"Sorry, Wildcat," Gabriella said, "I don't think we should leave the kids unsupervised. I would love to take a

shower with you, but I can't."

"This is the worst day of my life," Troy said.

"I think you're overreacting a bit," Gabriella told her husband.

"Well first you made me get up, then Troy was yelling at me and hitting me, now you can't take a shower with

me."

"You can take one by yourself. You're old enough."

"But I like being with you."

"What's up with the bad attitude today?" Gabriella asked.

"Sorry," Troy apologized. "I'm just stressed."

"About what?" Gabriella asked.

"The kids' birthday party, Thanksgiving, Christmas, coaching, drama club," Troy listed.

"I know," Gabriella said, "I love the holidays, but they are a big pain to prepare for. As soon as we're done

with this party, we'll have to get ready for Christmas."

Troy sighed. "I'm sorry for acting this way, though." He went over to Gabriella and kissed her cheek. "Can we

be friends again?"

"I thought we were more," Gabriella said.

"Of course," Troy agreed. "I was only kidding."

"I know," Gabriella said affectionately. "Now just go get a shower."

"Alright, I will," Troy said. "Then after I'm done, you can have one and after you're done, I'll pick up the kids'

cake."

"Sounds good," Gabriella agreed.

Troy then left his son's room to go into the bathroom.

* * *

"My mom's here," Gabriella said to Troy as she saw her mother's car pull into the driveway through the living

room window. Though she lived in California, her mom still came to Albuquerque for the kids' birthdays and on

Christmas and Easter.

"Okay," Troy said.

"Gwandma!" both the twins yelled.

Ding dong! The doorbell rang. Gabriella opened it. "Hi, Mom," she said. "You can come in."

"Hi, Gabriella," Mrs. Montez said, "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah," Gabriella said as she shut the door.

"Gwandma!" the twins said, running up to their grandmother.

"Hi, Troy. Hi, Brie," Mrs. Montez said.

"Mom, Troy and I found out what we're having," Gabriella said, referring to the baby she was going to have.

Her and Troy had told their parents she was pregnant after about a month of knowing themselves. Just a week

ago, they had found out they were having another girl.

"Really? What is it?" Mrs. Montez asked, looking at her daughter.

"A girl," Gabriella answered.

"Are you two excited about having a new sister?" Mrs. Montez asked her grandchildren.

"No," little Troy said. "I don't want a sister."

Brie shook her head no. "I didn't even want a bwother," she said.

Mrs. Montez laughed. "Well your mommy never talked about wanting any brothers or sisters when she was

younger, either. But she was an only child."

"Mommy's lucky," little Troy said, pouting.

"Do you have a name picked out?" Mrs. Montez asked.

"Julliette," Gabriella answered.

"I like it," Mrs. Montez said.

Just then, the doorbell rang again. This time Troy answered it. He saw his parents standing there holding pre-

sents for the kids. "Hi," he said. "You can come in."

"Gwandpa and Gwandma!" the twins shouted as their grandparents came in.

"Hi," Mr. and Mrs. Bolton said.

"You can put the presents next to the sofa," Troy said.

"Oh, that reminds me," Mrs. Montez said, "I need to get my presents for the kids out of the car. Oh, and I got

cards for you and Troy since your birthdays are so close. Let me go out to the car and get everything." She got

her keys, then went out the front door.

"Jake's hewe!" little Troy exclaimed, seeing his friend from school walking up to the door with his dad. As his

grandmother left the house, he ran onto the porch. "Jake!"

"Look, Abbie's hewe, too!" Brie said, seeing her friend. She ran outside after her brother.

A minute later, everyone was back in. The twins' friends' parents had made sure their kids were settled, then

left, leaving all four kids very hyper.

"Here's cards for you and Troy," Mrs. Montez said, giving Gabriella both cards. She put the kids' gifts in the

gift pile.

"Thanks, Mom," Gabriella said, opening her card and seeing she got twenty-five dollars. "I always need mon-

ey."

"You're welcome," Mrs. Montez said.

"Wildcat, want your birthday card?" Gabriella asked.

"Okay," Troy said, walking over to Gabriella. He opened his card and found the same amount of money Gab-

riella had gotten. "Thanks," he said to his mother-in-law.

"You're welcome," Mrs. Montez said.

"Okay," Gabriella announced loudly. "We're going to have cake now."

"Yay!" all the kids screamed really loudly, running to the dining room table.

"After cake, Troy and Brie are going to open presents, then you can all go play for the rest of the party," Troy

told all the kids.

Gabriella brought over the cake. It was half chocolate-half vanilla with chocolate frosting. In green frosting, it

said 'Happy 4th birthday Troy and Brie'. "Okay, everyone, let's song happy birthday."

"The candles!" Troy reminded his wife.

"Oh, yeah," Gabriella remembered.

"I'll get them." Troy ran into the kitchen and got four candles and a lighter to light them with. After he put

them on the cake and lit them, he said, "Nobody touch the fire."

"Alright, let's sing," Gabriella said.

Everyone sang:

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to Troy and Brie,

Happy birthday to you.

The kids then blew out their candles.

"Should we sing happy birthday to your mommy and daddy?" Mrs. Montez asked her grandchildren.

"Okay," the kids said.

Then everyone sang:

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to-(at this part, the twins said Mommy and Daddy, their friends said Mr. and Mrs. Bolton, and

Troy and Gabriella's parents said Troy and Gabriella)

Happy birthday to you.

"You don't have any candles to blow out," Brie said to her parents.

"That's okay," Gabriella said.

"Hewe," little Troy said. He took two candles out of the cake and gave one to each of his parents. "Pwetend to

blow them out."

"Twoy! Mommy and Daddy awern't tuwning two!" Brie said.

"Well we would need all the candles in the world if we wanted to make their weal age!" little Troy said.

All the adults laughed.

"Okay," Gabriella said. "Let me get the cake cut. Who wants chocolate cake and who wants vanilla cake?"

Everyone gave their orders for cake. Gabriella then cut it and handed it out.

"Let's open pwesents!" little Troy said when everyone was done their cake. He ran over to the gift pile.

"Wait for everyone to come over there," Gabriella said.

"And we need to sort out what's for you and what's for Brie," Troy added.

"Okay," little Troy said.

Gabriella and Troy went to their kids' presents and put them in two piles-one for Troy and one for Brie.

"Okay," Gabriella said, "You can open them now."

The kids each grabbed a present and began tearing the wrapping paper off. "I got a wacecaw!" little Troy

yelled as he got all the paper off.

"I got a ballerina Barbie!" Brie exclaimed.

"Did you open your cards?" Gabriella asked, grabbing the cards that had come with the presents. However, the

kids didn't care about the cards, so she opened them herself. "These are from Grandma," she said. "Say thank

you."

"Thank you," Brie and Troy both said.

"You're welcome," Mrs. Montez said.

"Thanks for getting her that Barbie, Mom," Gabriella said sarcastically, "Now there will be tiny shoes lying all

over the house."

"Well when you were little, I always found Barbie shoes on the floor," Mrs. Montez said.

The kids opened their next presents. "I got a basketball!" little Troy exclaimed.

"I got a stuffed kitty!" Brie said, hugging her new stuffed animal.

"Let Mommy see the cards," Gabriella said.

The twins ignored their mother.

Troy grabbed the cards and handed one to Gabriella while he opened one himself. "They're from Grandpa and

Grandma," he said.

"Thank you," the kids said quickly before opening their next gifts. "I got another wacecaw!" little Troy shout-

ed. "But it's diffewent fwom my other one! Now I can play wacecaws at home!"

"Look, a ballet skirt!" Brie yelled, holding up a little pink tulle skirt that looked like it would fit her perfectly.

"And a ballerina coloring book!" She showed her mom the coloring book.

"Wow," Gabriella said, smiling.

"Let's see the cards," Troy said. "The car is from Jake and the ballet stuff is from Abbie. Say thank you to

your friends."

"Thank you," the kids said.

"You're welcome," their friends said.

"And these last presents are from Mommy and Daddy," Gabriella said, taking the cards off the gifts her and

Troy had gotten the kids.

The kids opened their presents. "What are these?" they both asked, looking at their unwrapped gifts.

"They're helmets," Gabriella answered.

"For what?" the kids asked.

"Let's go in the garage," Troy said.

"Why?" the kids asked.

"The rest of your presents are in there," Troy said.

The kids leaped up and ran to the garage door, everyone else following. Little Troy opened the door while his

dad turned on the light. "BIKES!" both the kids screamed as they saw two training wheel bikes-a red and white

one and a pink and white one-in the garage.

Troy and Gabriella smiled.

"Is mine the pink one?" Brie asked.

"Yeah," Gabriella answered. "And Troy's is the red one."

The kids ran into the garage and began to get on the bikes.

"Wait a second," Troy said, "You kids don't have shoes or helmets on and the garage is too messy to ride the

bikes in."

"Aw," the kids said in disappointment, getting off their bikes and going back in the house.

"Mommy and Daddy will take you to ride them later," Gabriella said. "But now you should go play with your

friends."

"Okay," little Troy said. "Daddy, can you open my wacecaws so me and Jake can play?"

"Alright," Troy said.

"Come on, Abbie," Brie said. "Let's go play with my pwesents!"

"I want my basketball opened, too!" little Troy said loudly.

"I want my Barbie opened!" Brie said.

"Okay," Troy said, "You need to be patient. I can only open stuff so fast."

"I'll help," Gabriella offered.

"Mommy, you can open my Barbie," Brie said, handing her present to her mother.

"Oh, great," Gabriella mumbled to herself. "These things are always wired in."

"This racecar is wired in, too," Troy said.

"Everything's wired in," Mr. Bolton said.

"I hate how it is, though," Troy said.

"Me, too," Gabriella agreed.

"Go faster!" Brie yelled.

"Brie, the ballerina is wired into the box," Gabriella pointed out.

"Oh," Brie said. "Why?"

"I don't know," Gabriella answered.

"Here you go," Troy said, handing his son one of his racecars.

"Whewe's the other one?" little Troy asked.

"I have to open it," Troy answered. "Be patient."

"Me and Jake wanna play wacecaws!" little Troy yelled very loudly.

"Well you can as soon as I get this opened."

"Is my Barbie almost ready?" Brie asked her mother.

"I can't get these wires off," Gabriella said, frustrated. "Wildcat, can I trade you the Barbie for the racecar?"

"Sure," Troy said, handing Gabriella the racecar.

Gabriella gave Troy the Barbie, then began to finish unwiring the racecar.

* * *

That night, Troy and Gabriella were lying in bed, snuggled close to each other. "That was a good party," Troy

commented. "Crazy, though."

"I know," Gabriella said. "I'm so tired now."

"Well at least the kids liked their bikes," Troy pointed out.

"Seeing the kids have fun is always worth it," Gabriella said.

"I know. At times, having kids is hard, but I also love it," Troy told Gabriella. "I guess because my kids are

yours, too, and I love you."

"I love you, too," Gabriella said, smiling.

"Do you want to do something.....something relaxing, something for us?" Troy asked. "After all, we did have a

long day.

"Like what?" Gabriella questioned.

"Well we do have our song," Troy reminded her.

"And our dance," Gabriella added, knowing exactly what Troy was thinking.

Troy and Gabriella both got out of bed and Gabriella began singing:

_Take my hand, take a breath_

_Pull me close and take one step_

_Keep your eyes locked on mine,_

_And let the music be your guide._

_Then Troy joined her and they danced and sang together, their voices blending nicely:_

_Won't you promise me (now won't you promise me, that you'll never forget)_

_We'll keep dancing (to keep dancing) wherever we go next_

_It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you_

_It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do_

_And with every step together, we just keep on getting better_

_So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)_

_Can I have this _

_my hand, I'll take the lead_

_And every turn will be safe with me_

_Don't be afraid, afraid to fall_

_You know I'll catch you through it all_

_And you can't keep us apart (even a thousand miles, can't keep us apart)_

_'Cause my heart is (cause my heart is) wherever you are_

_It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you_

_It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do_

_And with every step together, _

_we just keep on getting better_

_So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)_

_Can I have this dance_

_Oh no mountains too high enough, oceans too wide_

_'Cause together or not, our dance won't stop_

_Let it rain, let it pour_

_What we have is worth fighting for_

_You know I believe, that we were meant to be_

_It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you (like you)_

_It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do (way we do)_

_And with every step together, we just keep on getting better_

_So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)_

_Can I have this dance_

_Can I have this dance_

_Can I have this dance_

Then, they let their noses touch as they kissed passionately, just as they had done in high school when Troy had

gone to Stanford to get Gabriella for graduation.


	9. The Nutcracker

"Mommy, let's go!" Brie said. It was the Saturday before Christmas, and the day Brie was performing in her

dance studio's production of the Nutcracker. She was in the dance called Angels, so her costume was a pink leo-

tard, pink skirt, white angel wings, a glittery white halo, white tights, and pink ballet slippers.

"Hold on, Brie," Gabriella told her. "Mommy needs to put your hair in a bun and pin your halo in. Then we'll

go."

"Okay," Brie said, walking over to her mother.

Gabriella carefully got all the knots out if her daughter's long hair, then gathered it back into a high ponytail.

After that, she twisted the ponytail into a bun, putting bobby pins in every so often to secure it. When she was all

finished, she took Brie's halo and pinned it on top of her head. "There," she said, looking at her daughter. "You

look perfect."

"Can we go now?" Brie asked.

"Oh, no, Mommy forgot she has to put a little make-up on you," Gabriella said, suddenly remembering Miss

Emmy had told all the parents that the girls had to wear some make-up for the show. She went into the bedroom

she shared with Troy, got her make-up, then went back into Brie's room, where she had been doing her daughter's

hair. "Alright," she said, grabbing her blush. Carefully, she put some on her daughter's cheeks, then a bit of light

brown eye shadow on her eyelids. After that, she carefully applied pink lipstick to Brie's lips. "Don't lick it off,"

she instructed her. "It'll taste yucky."

"Okay," Brie said, walking out of her room.

Gabriella put her make-up away, then followed her daughter down the steps.

"Yuck, you look like a giwly-giwl," little Troy, who was standing in the living room with his father, told his

sister as he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Troy, that's enough," Troy scolded. "Brie, you look very nice." To himself, he thought, _She reminds me so _

_much of my Gabby_.

"Just like a ballerina," Gabriella added.

"I'm an angel ballerina!" Brie shouted, jumping up and down.

"Yes you are," Gabriella agreed, smiling. "Now you need to put on a coat. It's really cold out."

"But I can't wear a coat with my angel wings," Brie pointed out.

"That's right," Gabriella agreed. "Mommy forgot about that. How about you take them off and we'll get them

on again after we get there."

"You're gonna be doing your show at Daddy and Mommy's work," Troy told his daughter. Since there was no

stage in the dance studio, they were having the show at East High. It had been picked because it was best known

out of all the schools in East Albuquerque School District, and it had the largest auditorium.

"Awe you wowking tonight?" Brie asked.

"No," Troy answered. "It's too late for work."

"Awe you gonna watch me do ballet?"

"Yes," Troy said. "And so are Mommy and Troy."

"I don't wanna watch dumb ballet," little Troy complained. "I want to play-"

"I know, you wanna play wacecaws," Brie cut in.

Little Troy nodded.

"Troy, Daddy just played racecars with you for a long time this afternoon," Troy told his son.

Gabriella went to the coat closet and got out Brie's coat along with her own. Her son and Troy both already

had theirs on, so she didn't need to worry about getting them out. "Alright, Brie," she said. "Take your wings off

and put your coat on."

Brie tried to take her wings off, but she found she couldn't. "Mommy, I need help," she said.

Gabriella carefully took the angel wings off her daughter, then handed her coat to her.

"I'm ready," Brie announced as soon as her coat was on.

Gabriella quickly got on her coat. "I'm ready, too. I guess we can go now."

"No we can't," little Troy argued. "I wanna play wacecaws."

"Troy, listen," his father said. "Look at Daddy."

Little Troy looked at his father.

"Tonight at Brie's show, you are to sit quietly and watch. No whining or complaining," Troy firmly instructed

his son.

Little Troy didn't answer. Instead, he just ran upstairs.

"Troy, where are you going?" Gabriella called. "We need to go."

Almost as soon as she was finished speaking, her son came down the stairs holding a racecar. "I'm bwinging a

wacecaw," he told the rest of his family.

"You can bring it, but it needs to stay in the car," Troy said.

"Okay," little Troy agreed, for once not sounding angry about not getting his own way.

"Thank you," Troy said. "Now let's get going."

"Yay!" Brie shouted, running to the front door and flinging it open. She then ran outside.

"Brie, wait for everyone else," Gabriella called.

Brie stopped running until the rest of her family caught up with her. Once they did, she ran to her car door and

began pulling on the handle. "Open! Open!" she yelled.

"The car's locked," Troy told his daughter. "Daddy needs to get the keys out." He then reached into his pocket

and pulled out the car keys, which were on a key ring along with the battery-powered car door operator. He then

pressed the unlock button and the car unlocked. "It's unlocked now."

Brie opened the car door hurriedly and jumped into her seat.

"I'm getting in, too!" little Troy shouted, also opening his door and getting in the car. "I'm gonna play with my

wacecaw in here."

Troy and Gabriella smiled and followed their kids into the car. Once they were in, Troy reached over and

grabbed Gabriella's hand, which was as cold as an ice cube, and rubbed his warm fingers over it. "Are you gonna

be okay?" he murmured. "You look really cold."

"Yes," Gabriella answered with a nod. She got cold really easily. Even though she had only been outside for a

minute, her nose and cheeks were becoming red in addition to her hands feeling very cold. Inside the black ballet

flats she was wearing, her toes were freezing.

"Okay," Troy said, letting go of his wife's hand as he started the car.

"Will it take to get thewe?" Brie asked her parents.

"Not too long," Gabriella answered.

The whole way to East High, Brie chattered aimlessly about her dance in the Nutcracker while her brother

kept telling his parents about what he was doing with his racecar as he played. When they got to the school and

parked in an empty parking space, Brie unbuckled herself and tried to open her door, only to be prevented by the

child lock Troy had put on in the backseat. "Daddy, Mommy, the door won't open," she complained.

"Mommy will get it," Gabriella said, getting out of the car. She opened her daughter's door while Troy took

care of his son's. Then, they all walked inside together.

"This place is HUGE!" Brie exclaimed, her eyes searching around eagerly.

"We could play hide and seek and nevew find anyone!" little Troy added.

"Yeah," Gabriella agreed. Even though the size of the school didn't amaze her, she didn't want to ruin the ex-

citement for her children by saying that the building wasn't as big as it seemed.

"Whewe do I do my show?" Brie asked.

"On the stage," Gabriella answered. "Mommy and Daddy need to take you to Miss Emmy. You're gonna stay

with her and all the other girls who are in the show until it's time for you to do your dance."

"Okay," Brie said.

"Is she going backstage?" Troy asked Gabriella.

"No," Gabriella replied. "She has to go in the gym to wait. They're gonna have toys in there so the girls don't

get too bored. When it's almost time for her dance, her teacher will take her to the backstage room. They just

don't want everyone watching to be able to hear all the noise from the little ballerinas. Because they certainly

wouldn't sit quietly for forty-five minutes."

"So she's forty-five minutes into the show?" Troy asked.

Gabriella nodded.

"Can I play in the gym, too?" little Troy asked.

"No," Gabriella answered. "Unless you want to dance in the Nutcracker."

"Yucky," little Troy said, sticking out his tongue.

"The gym's this way," Troy told his daughter, grabbing her hand so she didn't go in the wrong direction and

end up getting lost.

"I'll keep an eye on Troy," Gabriella said, taking her son's hand.

After a minute of walking, the while family arrived at the gym. "Basketball!" little Troy yelled, running into

the room and looking at the basketball nets.

"Hi, Abbie!" Brie called, running over to her friend as soon as she caught sight of her.

Gabriella and Troy walked over to where Miss Emmy was sitting. "Hi," Gabriella said. "I'm dropping off Brie

now."

"Okay," Miss Emmy said pleasantly with a friendly smile. "Thanks for letting me know."

"Brie, you need your wings on before Mommy, Daddy, and Troy leave," Gabriella said loudly.

Brie ran over to her mother. "My wings!" she exclaimed happily.

Gabriella put the angel wings on her daughter, then said, "I want you to behave in here."

"I will," Brie promised as she ran back over to her friend.

"Come on, Troy," Troy called to his son.

Little Troy came running over to his dad.

"Oh, do you have a son, too?" Miss Emmy asked Gabriella.

"Yeah," Gabriella replied. "Him and Brie are actually twins."

"Oh, really? When I was younger, I thought it would be fun to have a twin."

"Well they don't exactly have fun with each other," Gabriella said.

Miss Emmy laughed. "Well that's what siblings do, I guess."

"Yeah," Gabriella agreed, smiling. "Well we'd better go before my son runs off somewhere."

"Alright. Have fun watching the show."

"Thanks."

"Bye, Brie," Troy said to his daughter.

"Bye, Daddy," Brie shouted from across the room, where she was playing with Abbie.

"Have fun," Gabriella called.

"I will," Brie yelled.

"Alright, let's go to the auditorium," Troy said.

* * *

The curtain opened and the opening scene-which was called the Party scene-began. "This is boring," little

Troy complained loudly.

"Shhh," his dad, who was sitting next to him, said in an annoyed voice.

"But it's-" little Troy began.

Troy put his hand gently over his son's mouth before he could cause further disruption to the show. "Be quiet,"

he whispered.

Little Troy nodded, hearing what his dad had told him.

Troy took his hand away from little Troy's mouth. "I mean it," he said sternly, still keeping his voice low.

Just then, a teenage boy who was playing a soldier in the dance called Dolls and Soldiers, came onto stage and

did a bit of dancing around the two girls who were playing dolls. "Why is there a boy?" little Troy asked his dad

in a quiet voice.

"Boys can do ballet, too," Troy answered in a whisper.

"But I don't wanna," little Troy said, this time speaking louder.

Gabriella, who was sitting on the other side of her husband, leaned over and told her son in a hushed voice,

"You need to be quiet."

"I am," little Troy answered aloud.

"Shhh," Troy said, getting angry at his son.

Gabriella felt a tap on her shoulder from behind. She turned around to see a middle-aged man with a very ang-

ry expression covering his face. "Yes?" she asked politely, keeping her voice at a whisper.

"You people need to be quiet and stop disturbing everyone who's trying to enjoy the show," the man instruc-

ted, also whispering. But his whisper was sharp and contained a rude edge to it.

"Sorry," Gabriella said, embarrassed, still keeping her voice low. She then turned back around and rested her

cheek on Troy's shoulder.

Troy wrapped one of his arms around Gabriella and kissed her head.

In a few minutes, everyone in the audience clapped, then the curtain closed. When it reopened, the Fight scene

began. "They have swowds," little Troy whispered, noticing the fake swords the Mouse King and the Nutcracker

were banging together as they danced.

"Shhh," Troy told his son for the third time.

Little Troy listened, but began to fidget in his seat.

"Troy, stop," Troy quietly told his son. He then took his arm away from his wife and lifted his son onto his

lap. "You need to sit on Daddy's lap since you're not being good."

Little Troy pouted. However, at that moment, more people playing mice came on stage and started dancing,

causing him to start laughing. "Look at all the mice!" he exclaimed.

"Look at you earning yourself a time out," Gabriella whispered in her son's ear.

"Mommy, you're funny!" little Troy loudly announced.

"I'm gonna take him out for a minute," Troy said to his wife in a soft tone. He then stood up and took little

Troy out of the auditorium.

As soon as Troy and his son were out of the room, the Fight scene was over. Everyone clapped rather loudly,

then the curtain closed. In a minute, it reopened, showing several girls appearing to be in their late teens dressed

in white leotards, white tutus, white tights, white tutus, and white pointe slippers. They all had silver glitter and

buns in their hair. This was the Snowflake dance, the one that Brie had watched on the computer. The girls began

dancing graceful, advanced steps, causing the audience to cheer. Halfway through it, Troy came back in with his

son. "He said he's ready to be quiet," he whispered to Gabriella.

Gabriella nodded in agreement. "Brie's coming on soon," she told her husband in a hushed voice.

Troy smiled and squeezed her hand, showing he had heard what she said.

The girls on stage got into their ending pose. After about a minute of claps and cheers from the audience, the

curtain closed. "We have finished with act one," came a voice over the loudspeaker. "It is now time for a fifteen

minute intermission. After that, we will begin act two."

"What's intewmission?" little Troy asked as he watched people walk out of the auditorium. "Does that mean

it's over?"

"No," Gabriella replied. "It means they're taking a break from the show. They still need to finish it. Do you

have to go potty?"

Little Troy nodded.

"Wildcat, can you take him?" Gabriella asked Troy.

"Sure," Troy answered.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, too," Gabriella added as they walked out the auditorium door. "I'll meet you in

the hallway outside the bathrooms when I'm done, okay?"

"That's fine with me," Troy agreed.

* * *

The curtain opened after everyone was back in the auditorium after intermission. This time, there were two

girls in Hispanic-looking dresses. They danced, then girls in Arabian outfits came out and danced. When they

were finished, the little angels came in stage. "Aw, Brie looks so cute," Gabriella whispered to Troy.

Troy nodded, smiling proudly.

A young teenage girl, who was playing Clara, the lead girl in the show, danced around all the angels. When-

ever she would curtsy to one of them, the little girl she had done it to would curtsy back. When they were done

with that part, all the angels did a few plies, then tiptoed off stage, to be replaced with girls in Chinese kimonos.

* * *

"You did great!" Gabriella exclaimed as her daughter ran up to her and hugged her. The Nutcracker was over,

so Troy and Gabriella, along with their son, were picking Brie up from the gym.

"That was so much fun!" Brie said happily, letting go of her mother and jumping up and down. "I wanna do it

again!"

"Maybe you'll do it next year," Gabriella suggested.

"Yay!" Brie clapped her small hands.

"Brie, did a great job," Troy said, smiling.

"That was boring," little Troy pouted.

"Don't be rude, Troy," Gabriella told her son. "Brie's your sister. Be nice to her."

"But it was boring."

"Stop it," Troy commanded his son firmly.

"Let's go home," Gabriella said.

"I need to get my coat," Brie told her mom as she dashed off to where she had put her coat. When she came

back, she said, "I need my wings off."

Gabriella took the angel wings off her daughter. After Brie got her coat on, she asked, "Is everyone ready to

go?"

"I've been ready fow a yeaw," little Troy replied.

"Yes," Troy answered, deciding to ignore his son's rude comment.

Brie nodded.

"Let's go then," Gabiella said.

As they walked towards the door to exit the school, Brie announced, "When I gwow up, I'm gonna be a bal-

lewina."

* * *

**Hey, could you all please go to my profile and vote in my poll? It's a question referring to my HSM **

**stories. Thanks:)**


	10. Christmas Day

"Mommy! Daddy! It's Christmas!" Brie yelled, running out of her own bedroom and banging on the door of

her parents'.

"I wanna open presents!" little Troy shouted, hurrying downstairs to look at his full stocking and the large gift

that was sitting next to it under the Christmas tree.

Inside Troy and Gabriella's room, Troy groaned, then rolled over to look at the clock. "Seven-thirty," he mum-

bled to his wife, who was curled up comfortably in his warm arms.

"Time to get up," Gabriella said.

"I want snuggles for Christmas," Troy complained, pulling Gabriella closer to his side. "That's all I want."

"Wildcat, you can have snuggles every day, now let's go."

"Come _on_ Mommy and Daddy!" Brie said impatiently, turning the doorknob and peeking into her parents'

room.

"Brie, there's a rule in this house about not opening closed doors," Troy told his daughter sleepily.

"But I want you to stop sleeping and get up so I can open pwesents!" With that, Brie rushed downstairs. She

found her brother already ripping wrapping paper off his gifts. "I wanna open my pwesents, too!" She reached

for her stocking.

"I'm gonna open my big one!" little Troy announced to his sister, dragging the gift that was beside his stock-

ing to the middle of the room. "IT'S A BASKETBALL HOOP!" he screamed in delight as he tore the wrapping

paper off of it.

"I wanna open my big one, too!" Brie yelled. She grabbed the present that was next to her stocking and be-

gan taking the paper off of it. "It's a real ballet barre!" she shouted, looking at the picture on the box she had just

revealed.

Just then, Troy and Gabriella walked down the stairs. "Kids!" they both scolded as soon as they saw the mess

of wrapping paper and unwrapped gifts that their children were sitting in with smiles on their faces.

"Daddy! Mommy! I got a real basketball hoop!" little Troy exclaimed happily, holding up the box containing

his new item.

"Do you like it?" Gabriella asked.

Little Troy nodded eagerly as he put down his present.

"Mommy! Daddy! Look! A real ballet barre just like at ballet class!" Brie yelled as she pointed to her un-

wrapped gift. Then, after a moment, she decided, "It'll be too small for me, though. Look how little the

box is!"

"Daddy will have to put it together," Troy told his daughter. "It doesn't come ready to use."

"Can you put it togethew now?" Brie asked, looking up at her father with pleading eyes.

_I wish she wouldn't do that,_ Troy thought. _She has the same pleading look as Gabby. And that look is my worst _

_weakness._ Then, aloud, he said, "Okay, Brie. Let Daddy look at it and see what he can do." He climbed over

all the wrapping paper and sat down next to his daughter.

"I want my basketball hoop put up, too!" little Troy told his dad. "You can put it in my woom."

"Well your sister asked me to help her first, so you'll have to wait a little bit," Troy said.

"I'll help you open it awhile," Gabriella offered, walking over to little Troy.

"Here," little Troy said, handing the box containing the basketball hoop to his mom.

"Okay, let's see." Gabriella took her son's gift from him and opened it up.

"A soft basketball!" little Troy shouted, picking up the plush ball he saw. "I didn't know it came with this!"

"That's so you have a ball to shoot through the hoop," Gabriella told her son. "And it's soft like that so you can

play with it inside. Once the hoop's on your wall, you can play basketball in your room."

"Yay!" little Troy yelled.

Gabriella then took the basketball hoop from the box and examined it. "I think Mommy can get this up in your

room," she told her son, deciding that it didn't look too hard to nail into a wall.

Little Troy jumped up and down. "Can you put it up now?"

"Yeah," Gabriella answered, standing up. She went into the garage and got two nails and a hammer, then took

them-along with the basketball hoop-to her son's room.

Little Troy followed his mother, bouncing up and down with excitement. "Will it be done soon?" he asked.

"In a minute," Gabriella replied. She took the nails, hammered them into the wall, then hung the basketball

hoop on them. After it was on the wall, she hammered the nails in further to make sure it would stay up. "It's all

ready."

"Now I can play!" little Troy said happily, running downstairs to get his new basketball that he had left in the

wrapping paper mess. He then ran back to his room.

Gabriella smiled as she walked downstairs. "How's the ballet barre coming?" she asked Troy.

"I got it about halfway finished," Troy answered.

"Then I can do ballet at home!" Brie exclaimed. "Awe we gonna put the barre in my woom?"

"Yes," Gabriella replied.

"Yay!" Brie shouted.

"Mommy, Daddy," little Troy said, running downstairs. "I fowgot to show you what I got in my stocking!" He

went over to his gifts, grabbed two things, and then held them up. "I got another wacecaw, see? And candy!"

"You got a lot of good stuff," Gabriella commented. "And you still have a couple more things in your stocking

to open."

"I fowgot about my stocking!" Brie yelled.

"Well then while Daddy's putting together your ballet barre, you can open the rest of your things. Troy, you

can finish opening yours, too."

The twins grabbed presents and ripped them open. "I got anothew ballet tutu fow my ballewina Barbie!" Brie

shouted.

"I got cwayons!" little Troy said. "I needed them fow school!"

"Me, too!" Brie announced as she ripped the paper off another present.

"Troy, you're right," Gabriella told her son. "They're to take to school."

"So we don't have to use the school's cwayons?" Brie questioned.

Gabriella smiled and nodded.

"Ouch!" Troy, who was still working on the ballet barre, exclaimed.

"Are you okay?" Gabriella asked worriedly, turning toward her husband.

"I pinched my finger," Troy answered, annoyed at himself. "This thing is getting harder to put together."

"I can try to do it," Gabriella offered.

"I don't want you to get hurt, baby girl."

Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I got candy!" Brie shouted.

"I got more candy!" little Troy yelled, very loudly. "Now I have two things of candy!"

"I got more candy, too!" Brie told everyone as she opened another one of her presents. Then, looking in her

stocking, she sadly said, "No more things."

Little Troy, hearing his sister, checked his stocking. "No more fow me, either."

"Well Grandma's coming later," Gabriella said as she let go of her husband. "And so are Grandma and Grand-

pa. You'll get more things then."

"YAY!" the kids both screamed.

"Wildcat, can I open my presents?" Gabriella asked Troy suddenly.

"Of course," Troy replied. "I'll take a break from putting this thing together and open mine, too."

"Okay." Gabriella grabbed her stocking, then handed Troy his. She then selected a present and began opening

it.

"What did you get, Mommy?" Brie asked.

"It's something in a box," Gabriella answered as she finished ripping all the paper off of her gift.

"Open the box!" little Troy shouted.

"I am," Gabriella assured her son. She removed the lid of the small box that was in her hands.

"What is it?" Brie asked.

"A bracelet," Gabriella said, smiling. "With a locket on it."

"What's a locket?" little Troy asked.

"This." Gabriella held up her new bracelet so her son could see it and pointed to the heart-shaped locket that

was dangling from the chain.

"Oh. I've never seen one befowe."

"It can open, too," Gabriella informed her son.

"I wanna see it open!" Brie yelled.

Gabriella opened the locket and saw Troy's picture on the right side. On the left, there was a folded up note.

She carefully took it out, unfolded it, then silently read the words that were written. _Gabby:_ _You are the music in_

_me. Forever love, your Wildcat. _Happy tears gathered in her eyes. "Wildcat," she breathed softly, placing her

bracelet back in its box, "I love it, and I love you."

Troy, who had been watching Gabriella from the time she began opening his present to her, gathered her up in

his arms and pressed a gentle kiss on her nose, then on her soft lips. "I love you, too," he whispered.

Gabriella returned both the loving embrace and the kiss. "You're so sweet," she murmured. "So sweet. This

is a gift from you that I will keep for the rest of my life."

"Yeah," Troy murmured back as he began stroking his wife's hair carefully, savoring the feeling of each per-

fect curl beneath his fingers. "I thought I'd get you something you could add to your collection of treasures that

came from me."

Gabriella smiled, knowing what Troy meant. She had her 'T' necklace-the first present he ever gave her. Then

she had both her engagement ring and her wedding ring. And most importantly, she had his tender, caring, sweet,

passionate love. Now she had something else to add to those things.

"Mommy, Daddy, why awe you hugging?" Brie asked.

"Because we love each other," Troy mumbled half to himself in reply.

"Wildcat, you still haven't started on your presents," Gabriella suddenly reminded her husband.

"I was too busy watching you open yours," Troy told her. "But now I guess I can start on mine."

"Okay," Gabriella said, letting go of Troy.

Troy reached for his stocking and pulled out a package, then took the paper off of it. "Gabby, baby," he said,

an amused smile coming onto his lips.

"What?" Gabriella asked.

Troy held up his present and read the writing that was written on the box enclosing it. "Alarm clock. Super

loud. Will wake up even the heaviest sleeper."

Gabriella began laughing.

"What's so funny about this?" Troy questioned playfully.

"You need it," was Gabriella's only response.

"What? You are so silly, my love," Troy said, also beginning to laugh as he very gently tapped his wife's nose

with one of his fingers.

"Mommy, Daddy, what's so funny?" Brie asked.

"Daddy's present," Gabriella answered.

"Did Santa give him coal?" little Troy wondered.

"No," Gabriella answered. "He gave him a super loud alarm clock."

"Will it be scawy?"

"No, you won't be able to hear it. It'll be in Mommy and Daddy's room."

"Gabby, it says you can have a personalized wake-up message," Troy said. "Or the standard beeping sound."

"Really?" Gabriella asked, acting surprised. She had picked out a clock that had an option to create a personal

wake-up message on purpose, so she had known it came with that feature. However, if she said she already knew

about it in front of the kids, they might figure out that she had bought the clock and begin questioning whether or

not Santa was real. So to save tears from falling on Christmas, she pretended she knew nothing about it.

Troy handed Gabriella his gift.

Gabriella opened up the box, then took out the user's manual and quickly scanned it. When she was done,

she took the clock and found the record button. Pressing it and holding it down, she said in a clear voice,

"Wildcat. It's time to get up. Don't be lazy or I won't kiss you for a month." Finished, she let go of the button

and handed the clock back to Troy. "Here. Listen to it."

"What button do I press?" Troy asked, confused.

"Um, let me see." Gabriella grabbed the user's manual again. After finding the page where it listed which but-

tons did what, she answered, "The alarm sound demo button."

Troy found the needed button and pushed it. Suddenly, the recording Gabriella had made sounded very loudly

in the room, causing the twins to cover their ears. "WILDCAT. IT'S TIME TO GET UP. DON'T BE LAZY OR I

WON'T KISS YOU FOR A MONTH."

"Baby girl," Troy said, putting his clock down on the floor. "You really are silly." He leaned over to kiss her

on the cheek. "But I love you for it."

Gabriella giggled. "Well this clock better wake you up. If it doesn't, then I'm all out of ideas of how to get you

out of bed."

* * *

"My mom's here," Gabriella announced later that day as, through the living room window, she saw her mother

walking to the front door.

"Gwandma's here?" Brie questioned.

"Yes she is," Gabriella replied.

Brie, followed by her brother, ran to the door and swung it open. "Gwandma!" they both shouted in delight as

their grandmother walked into the house.

"Hi, Brie. Hi, Troy," Mrs. Montez greeted cheerfully. "Did Santa bring you good presents this year?"

"Yeah!" the kids both said loudly.

"Brie, shut the door," Troy, who was sitting on the sofa in the living room, instructed his daughter.

Brie closed the door. "What did you bring us, Gwandma?"

"You'll have to wait and see," Mrs. Montez answered, putting the gifts that were loaded in her arms down in

a corner.

"I wanna open my pwesents!" little Troy yelled.

"Can we?" Brie pleaded.

"I guess," Gabriella told her kids. "If Daddy and Grandma are okay with you doing it now."

"I'm fine with it," Troy said.

"Me, too," Mrs. Montez agreed.

"Alright," Gabriella decided. "You can open them. Let me just sort out which presents are for who." She went

over to the present pile and quickly divided them into two piles-one containing Brie's gifts and the other contain-

ing Troy's. "They're ready to open."

The kids ran over to their presents. "Which is my pile?" little Troy asked.

"This one," Gabriella told her son, pointing to one of the present piles.

Little Troy began hurriedly ripping paper off one of his gifts.

"Then this one's for me!" Brie exclaimed, sitting down in front of the pile her mother hadn't said was her bro-

ther's.

"I got a wacecaw!" little Troy shouted. "Now I have enough to make a huge wace! The biggest wace evew!"

"Wow!" Troy said to his son. "You can make a big race!"

"I got make-up!" Brie told everyone. She held up a play make-up kit meant for little girls around her age.

"That'll look nice on you," Gabriella commented.

"Look what else I got!" little Troy said excitedly. "It's a wacecaw track fow my wacecaws!"

"You'll have fun with that," Gabriella guessed.

"I got a ballet barre fow my ballet Barbie!" Brie shouted.

"Now your Barbie can do ballet at a barre, too," Gabriella pointed out.

"You can make her do what you do," Troy added.

"And my last pwesent is...." little Troy began.

"I'm on my last one, too!" Brie told her brother.

"A huge toy truck!" little Troy said loudly.

"And I got a phone!" Brie yelled. "Mommy, look!" She showed Gabriella the toy phone she had just unwrap-

ped.

"Now you can call Mommy and Daddy," Gabriella said.

"Daddy, look! I can call you now!" Brie happily exclaimed, showing her father her present.

"Wow, that'll be fun for you," Troy commented.

"Can you open it?"

"I guess. Let me just grab some scissors." Troy left the room, then appeared a moment later holding a pair of

scissors.

At that moment, the doorbell rang. "Wildcat, your parents are here," Gabriella told Troy as she peeked out the

window. She then went over to the door and opened it. "Hi."

"Hi, Gabriella," Mr. and Mrs. Bolton both said politely.

"You can come in."

Troy's parents made their way inside. "Hi, Troy," Mr. Bolton greeted his son.

Gabriella shut the door.

"Hi, Troy. Hi, Brie," Mrs. Bolton said to her grandchildren.

"Hi Troy. Hi, Brie," Mr. Bolton copied.

"Gwandma and Gwandpa! What did you bwing us?" little Troy questioned.

"Yeah, what?" Brie asked.

"Some presents," Mr. Bolton answered. "But I have to get them out of the car." Then, walking to the door, he

added, "I'll be right back."

"More pwesents!" both the twins yelled. "More pwesents are coming!"

In a minute, Mr. Bolton came back inside carrying four gifts-two for each of the twins. "Alright, here's pre-

sents for Troy." He put little Troy's presents in front of his grandson. "And presents for Brie." He put the remain-

ing presents by his granddaughter.

"Yay!" the kids shouted, immediately tearing the wrapping paper off their gifts.

"I got a dwess-up outfit!" Brie exclaimed.

"I got _another_ wacecaw!" little Troy yelled. "Now I can have a big, big, big wace!"

"I got ballet stickers!" Brie shouted as she opened her second gift.

"And I got basketball ones!" little Troy announced when he was done unwrapping his last gift.

"You two got a lot of things today," Gabriella observed.

"You're gonna be busy for a while," Troy added.

"And you," Gabriella said, pointing to her husband Troy, "Will be getting out of bed on time every morning."

"Gabby!" Troy pouted, pretending to be annoyed. He went over to Gabriella and lifted her off the ground.

"Put me down!" Gabriella ordered, playing along with her husband.

"Never," Troy whispered in her ear. "You will never be released! And I will never get up on time!"

"Yes you will," Gabriella told him as she giggled. _Or at least I hope so,_ she added silently.


	11. New Years' Eve

"Awe we going now?" Brie asked Gabriella impatiently. It was six o' clock on New Years' Eve. Brie and little

Troy were going over to Troy's parents' house for a sleepover since Troy and Gabriella had wanted the night to

themselves.

"In a minute," Gabriella replied, walking into her daughter's bedroom. "Let me just make sure you have every-

thing you need." She went over to the bag Brie's things were in and began looking through it. "Pajamas, tooth-

brush, a change of clothes, hair brush, underwear," she listed out loud to herself.

"Can we please go?" Brie begged.

"Yes," Gabriella answered. "You have all you need." Then, raising her voice, she called, "Wildcat! Are you

and Troy ready to leave?"

"Yeah," Troy answered, coming out of his son's room with little Troy following him.

"Alright," Gabriella said. "Well then let's go."

"What time is our flight?" Troy questioned. Not only were him and Gabriella spending the night alone, they

were also spending it at the ski lodge-the one where they had first seen each other-and, a couple years later, mar-

ried.

"Seven," Gabriella answered.

"What time are we picking the kids up tomorrow?"

"Between two and two-thirty."

"Sounds good."

* * *

"I love this place," Gabriella told Troy softly as they walked into the ski lodge.

"Me, too," Troy agreed, grabbing his wife's hand and gently rubbing her small fingers as they walked toward

the front desk to check in.

Gabriella smiled.

"Hi," the lady at the desk greeted.

"Hi. We are Troy and Gabriella Bolton. We should have a room reserved," Troy said.

The lady looked at the paper that was sitting in front of her, then walked to a shelf and grabbed a key card.

Handing it to Troy, she informed both him and Gabriella of their room number.

"Okay, thanks."

"Remember our wedding?" Gabriella asked as she walked away from the front desk with Troy, her hand still

in his.

"Of course," Troy answered. "It was amazing."

"I wish we were still young enough to go to that New Years' Eve teens karaoke party."

Troy didn't reply. Instead, he just smiled at his wife.

"We could make our own karaoke," Gabriella suggested, not seeming to notice that Troy didn't say anything in

response to her last comment. "In our hotel room. The only thing is that we would have no karaoke machine."

"I have everything under control," Troy vaguely assured her as he smiled.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella wondered, becoming confused as she noticed a glimmer of excitement in her

husband's eyes.

"Here's our room," Troy said, avoiding the question as he caught sight of the room they had been assigned to.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella asked again.

Troy slid the key card in and out of the slot on the door, then turned the doorknob and entered the room, pul-

ling Gabriella along with him.

"Wildcat, please answer me," Gabriella begged as she let go of Troy's hand.

"What was the question?" Troy pretended to be confused.

"I asked it twice," Gabriella said, going over to the large bed in the middle of the room and sitting on it.

"Let's go get our stuff out of the car."

"Wildcat, please tell me what's going on. I know something's up!"

Troy refused to say anything.

_I know he's hiding something, _Gabriella decided. _What could it be?_

"You coming?" Troy asked as he walked to the door and opened it.

Gabriella nodded and followed him, still desperately trying to figure out what he was up to.

"After we get our bags inside, you'll need to get changed into your dressy clothes."

"Wildcat, please tell me what's going on," Gabriella pleaded.

"Stop asking and maybe I will," Troy replied.

Gabriella kept quiet as she walked out of the building with Troy. Arriving at the car they had rented after get-

ting off the plane, she opened the back door and took her bag off of the seat.

"So you decided to try being quiet," Troy observed as he grabbed his bag. He then led Gabriella back inside

the ski lodge.

Gabriella nodded.

"Well I'm still not gonna tell you," Troy said. "I was teasing you."

"Wildcat!" Gabriella exclaimed.

As they reached their room, Troy unlocked the door, then held it open for Gabriella.

"Thanks." Gabriella stepped into the room and put her bag down next to the bed.

"No problem, baby girl," Troy assured her as he came to place his bag next to hers. "Now you'd better start

changing your clothes before we're late."

"Late for what?" Gabriella asked as she selected a pale green knee-length dress with spaghetti straps from the

clothing she had brought.

"Just get changed," Troy ordered gently, his voice heavy with affection.

Gabriella slipped off the shoes that were on her feet, then removed her flare leg jeans and warm top, replacing

them with her dress.

"You look perfect," Troy told her.

"Should I fix my hair?" Gabriella asked.

"If you want to," Troy answered. "Do whatever you would normally do to get dressed up."

"Okay." Gabriella got her hair things and make-up, then went into the small bathroom that was connected to

their room.

"Are you wearing the shoes you came here in?" Troy called.

"No," Gabriella replied. "I have some white high heels that I'm gonna put on."

"Can I put your other ones in your bag and get out your white ones to kind of hurry things up?"

"Sure. Do you have to get ready?"

"I wanna change into my suit, but it'll only take a minute to do that."

"Wildcat, what are we doing?" Gabriella asked as she came out of the bathroom.

"You'll see," Troy told her.

Gabriella placed her feet in the shoes Troy had gotten out for her. "How do I look?"

Troy gazed lovingly at his wife. "You look beautiful," he murmured, kissing her cheek softly.

Gabriella smiled. "Thanks."

"Let me just quick change and then we can go."

"Okay."

Troy changed his clothes as fast as he could, then said, "Come on, baby girl. Let's get going."

"Finally I can find out what's going on."

Troy smiled lovingly as he took Gabriella's hand and led her out into the hallway of the resort. After a minute

of walking, he stopped at a closed door and announced, "Here we are."

"Can we go in?" Gabriella asked.

Troy turned the doorknob and walked with his wife into 'the room'. The room where they had met each other.

The room where they had said their 'I do's' exactly five years ago.

"Wildcat!" Gabriella exclaimed in excitement, looking at all the teenagers standing around and seeing a large

sign on the wall that read: _Teens' New Years' Eve Karaoke Party _

"We're gonna sing the opening song for the night," Troy told her, finally revealing what he wouldn't tell ear-

lier.

Gabriella was too happy to respond with words. Instead, she flung her arms around Troy and kissed his lips.

Troy returned his wife's tender kiss. Then, he pulled her gently over to the karaoke stage and said in the mic-

rophone, "Hey everyone. We're going to be starting things off tonight. First of all, I'd just like to say that this is

night is very special to me, and being at this party brings out memories I'll never forget. Exactly seven years ago,

in this same room, I met the girl who means everything to me." He wrapped one of his arms around Gabriella's

shoulders. "Two years from that day, we got married-also in this room. And life got even better from there. We

currently have twins-a boy and a girl-and we're expecting another daughter in March."

Everyone at the party just gave Troy a 'who cares' look.

"Well anyway," Troy continued, "We're going to sing the first karaoke song of the night." He turned on the

karaoke machine, then began singing the song that had caused him to meet Gabriella:

_Living in my own world_

_Didn't understand_

_That anything can happen_

_When you take a chance_

_I never believed in_

_What I couldn't see_

_I never opened my heart yeah!!_

_To all the possibilities_

_I know that something has changed_

_Never felt this way_

_And right here tonightThis could be the start_

_Of something new_

_It feels so right_

_To be here with you_

_And now looking in your eyes_

_I feel in my heart_

_The start of something newNow who'd of ever thought that_

_We'd both be here tonight_

_And the world looks so much brighter_

_With you by my side_

_I know that something has changed_

_Never felt this way_

_I know it for realThis could be the start_

_Of something new_

_It feels so right_

_To be here with you_

_And now looking in your eyes_

_I feel in my heart_

_The start of something newI never knew that it could happen_

_Till it happened to me_

_I didn't know it before _

_But now it's easy to seeIt's a start _

_Of something new_

_It feels so right_

_To be here with you_

_And now looking in your eyes_

_I feel in my heartThat it's the start _

_Of something new_

_It feels so right _

_To be here with you_

_And now looking in your eyes_

_I feel in my heart_

_The start of something new_

_Start of something new_

_The start of something new_

_

* * *

_

"Ten more seconds until the new year," Troy said to Gabriella. They were standing outside, waiting for the

new year to start so they could watch the ski resort's firework display that was always put on as soon as midnight

arrived on New Years' Eve.

Gabriella smiled.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" people outside screamed, counting down the five remaining seconds until the new year.

"Can I have a kiss?" Troy asked, leaning close to Gabriella as the fireworks began.

Gabriella happily accepted the offer.

"The fireworks look nice," Troy commented after he was done kissing his wife.

Gabriella nodded in agreement and placed her head on Troy's shoulder.

Troy wrapped one of his arms around Gabriella's waist. "I love you," he whispered.

"Love you," Gabriella whispered back.

The fireworks continued for another five minutes. When they were all finished, Troy suggested, "Let's go back

to our room and get warmed up. It's cold out here."

"Okay," Gabriella, who was freezing, agreed.

Troy led Gabriella inside and to their room. As soon as they stepped into it, they both ran to the sofa that was

against the wall next to the bed. Troy then grabbed the blanket that was draped over the back of the it and put it

around both himself and Gabriella. "I thought this would warm us up," he explained.

Gabriella snuggled far into Troy. "I love you," she said.

"Love you, too." Troy pressed a kiss onto his wife's small nose.

Gabriella giggled slightly, then yawned.

"You tired?" Troy wondered.

Gabriella nodded sleepily.

"Well then let's quick get changed and go to bed."

Gabriella slid off the sofa and traded her dress and shoes for a comfy t-shirt that really belonged to Troy. "I'm

ready," she told him, climbing onto the bed and getting under the covers.

Troy quickly got out of his suit and put on some sweat pants, then got in bed next to Gabriella.

Gabriella snuggled up to Troy instantly.

"Aw, I love how you snuggle," Troy commented, wrapping his wife in his arms.

"I love how you snuggle, too."

"I was so happy when I found out you enjoyed snuggling in bed. If you wanted to be far apart from me, I

would still love you, but be disappointed."

"I'm very clingy."

"And I love that. I love that you're independent enough to do some things without me, but you also can be very

dependent and needy at times. It makes me feel like I have to take care of you and protect you, and I like that feel-

ing."

Gabriella smiled and closed her eyes. Troy said the sweetest things to her. She was so lucky to have him as her

husband.

"Good night," Troy whispered, reaching over to turn out the large floor lamp that was next to the bed.

"Good night," Gabriella murmured sleepily.

With that, both Troy and Gabriella fell fast asleep. They had completed five years of marriage along with se-

ven years of love. And that made them very happy.


	12. Chad and Taylor

"Troy, Brie, you two have toys all over the living room floor that you need to pick up after you finish your

lunch," Gabriella told her kids, who were sitting at the dining room table eating peanut butter and jelly sand-

wiches.

"Okay, Mommy," Brie agreed sweetly.

"I don't wanna clean up!" little Troy pouted.

"Troy, you have to. Mr. Danforth and Miss McKessie are coming over in an hour and they don't need to see all

your racecars lying around," Gabriella said firmly.

"Yes they do," little Troy argued.

"If you're gonna refuse to clean up, then you will get a time out and your racecars will be take away."

"No!"

"Honey, I'm gonna go to the store to pick up some chips and dip," Troy told Gabriella as he walked into the

room. "We're almost out of snacks and you know how Chad's always starving."

"Okay, can I have a good-bye kiss?" Gabriella asked, looking at Troy with pleading eyes.

Troy went right up to Gabriella and pressed his lips onto hers.

Gabriella happily returned the kiss. "I love you."

"Love you." Troy then turned toward the twins. "While Daddy's gone, I want you two to be good, do you hear

me?"

Brie and little Troy both nodded.

"Great. Daddy will see you in a little bit. Bye." With that, Troy left the house.

"I'm done eating," Brie announced, taking her paper plate into the kitchen and throwing it in the trash.

"Alright, now go put your toys away, please," Gabriella instructed.

Brie skipped happily into the living room and began grabbing her dress-up clothes and Barbie accessories.

"I'm all finished, too," little Troy said.

"Well then start cleaning up," Gabriella told him.

Little Troy stomped angrily into the living room, picked up one of his racecars, then went back into the dining

room and threw it at his mother. It hit her stomach, right where the baby was.

"Troy! You don't throw things!" Gabriella yelled. "And you hit Mommy right where her baby is!"

"I don't cawe about a stupid baby."

"Troy Bolton, get in your room right now," Gabriella ordered.

"No," little Troy refused, stomping one of his feet.

"I said NOW."

"And I said no, because I don't cawe about a stupid baby. I don't even want a new sistew."

"Well Mommy and Daddy want their baby."

"I don't like you."

"Get in your room. You need a very long time out."

"No time out!"

"Troy, you need to listen." Gabriella picked up her son and carried him upstairs. Putting him down on his bed,

she sternly instructed, "Stay here until Daddy gets home."

"I don't like you! You're making me have another sistew!"

Gabriella felt tears spring into her eyes. Leaving her son's room, she hurried into her own, laid down on the

bed, and sobbed. _My own son hates me,_ she thought sadly. _He really does._

_

* * *

_

"I'm home," Troy called from downstairs as he walked through the front door. Seeing neither his wife nor his

kids, he put the things he had just bought away in the kitchen, then hurried upstairs. "I'm back."

"Daddy! Mommy put me in time out!" little Troy cried, running out of his room and up to his dad.

"What did you do?" Troy asked in an annoyed tone.

"I threw one of my wacecaws at her," little Troy admitted proudly.

"Troy, go back in your room."

"Why? Mommy said time out could be over when you came home."

"Well Daddy thinks you should have another one. Those racecars could seriously hurt people."

"But Mommy was making me clean up! And I didn't want to!"

"Well you can't leave your toys lying around. Now go in your room."

Pouting, little Troy stomped back into his room.

"Gabby? Where are you?" Troy wondered.

Gabriella, hearing her husband's voice, went out in the hallway to see him.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked, very concerned as he noticed tear stains on Gabriella's cheeks.

Gabriella flung her arms around Troy and buried her face in his chest. "Troy threw one of his racecars at me

and it hit me right where our baby is."

"Is she okay?" Troy questioned, fear overtaking his voice as he returned Gabriella's hug.

"I-I can feel her kicking," Gabriella replied.

"Well then she's most likely okay." Troy placed a kiss on his wife's head and gently stroked her hair. "Were you

crying?"

Gabriella nodded.

"Yeah, I thought so. There are tear stains on your cheeks. Do you wanna wash them off before Chad and Taylor

get here? Because I can tell you now that Chad won't have any sympathy, and will probably make some joke if he

knows you had been crying."

"Okay," Gabriella agreed, reluctantly pulling away from Troy and walking into the bathroom.

_Ding dong!_

"Oh, that must be them," Troy assumed. "I'll go answer the door and you can come down when you're ready,

sound good baby girl?"

"Yeah," Gabriella answered.

Troy hurried downstairs and opened the front door. "Hey, Chad. Hi, Taylor."

"Hey, dude," Chad greeted, walking into the house. "What's up?"

"Hi," Taylor said politely as she followed Chad.

"My son's not behaving," Troy said in response to his friend's question.

"Hey, look, racecars," Chad pointed out, sitting down on the floor in front of the racecars little Troy had ne-

glected to put away.

"Chad, why are you interested in those?" Taylor asked, amused.

"Because racecars are the most awesome thing-next to basketball of course," Chad replied.

"Hi, Taylor, Chad."

Taylor turned her head to look in the direction of the voice that had just spoken. Seeing Gabriella, she said,

"Hi! How's your baby?"

"Good," Gabriella answered, smiling as she made her way over to the sofa and sat down.

"When's she due?"

"The middle of March."

Troy sat down next to his wife and wrapped his arms around her.

"Mommy, I'm hungry," Brie announced as she came downstairs.

"Hi, Brie," Taylor greeted the little girl.

Brie waved a bit shyly.

"I'm gonna quick get Brie a snack," Gabriella told everyone as she got off the sofa and went into the kitchen,

her daughter following her.

"I came out of time out!" little Troy exclaimed, running down the steps and over to his father.

"Hey, nice cars, Troy," Chad commented to his friend's son.

"They're my wacecaws," little Troy said proudly. "Wanna play with them?"

"Sure," Chad answered.

"Yay!" little Troy shouted, running to Chad and sitting down next to him.

At that moment, Gabriella came back into the living room with Brie behind her holding a bowl of pretzels.

"Gabby, baby girl," Troy began, "Please sit next to me again."

Gabriella happily accepted her husband's offer.

"Mommy, can I sit on the othew side of you?" Brie wondered.

"Okay," Gabriella agreed as she snuggled into Troy.

Brie sat down next to her mother.

"Chad's acting like a little boy," Taylor informed Gabriella.

Gabriella laughed.

"You're lucky Troy doesn't act that way. If Chad and I had kids, Chad would just play with all the toys instead

of help with taking care of them."

"I heard that," Chad told his girlfriend.

"You were supposed to."

"So Chad, when are you trying out for a pro basketball team?" Troy questioned. Chad had been waiting for an

opportunity to get on a professional basketball team ever since he graduated from college.

"In a month. That's when all the teams are gonna be looking for new players. But I wouldn't actually play until

next season," Chad replied.

"Awesome."

"Mr. Danfowth, I'm weady to do a wace," little Troy told Chad.

"So am I," Chad said.

"Okay, weady, set, go!"

"I'm gonna win."

"No, I just won!" little Troy yelled as he finished the race.

"Aw, come on, that wasn't fair," Chad complained.

"Chad, stop it. It was fair," Taylor scolded.

"But I didn't win," Chad argued.

Taylor didn't bother answering. Instead, she just rolled her eyes.

Troy kissed Gabriella's cheek. "I love you," he murmured.

"Love you," Gabriella murmured back.

"Troy, dude, you are weird," Chad remarked, seeing his friend's actions.

"How?" Troy asked. "We love each other."

"I don't like kissing. Or hugging. Or all that other gross stuff."

"Yeah, he doesn't," Taylor cut in. "Since we started dating, we've had one kiss, two hugs, and.....well I think

that's it." She cast Chad an accusing glance.

"Taylor, you know I don't like that stuff," Chad defended himself.

Troy and Gabriella exchanged amused smiles.

"Troy, I don't know how you do it," Chad said, turning toward his friend.

"I guess I'm just naturally affectionate," was Troy's response.

"Yeah, unlike you," Taylor teased.

"Can we stop this conversation?" Chad asked.

"Sure, do you want chips and dip?" Troy offered.

"You bet I do! I haven't eaten for...let's see..." Chad paused to look at the watch he was wearing. "Two and a

half hours."

Gabriella and Taylor laughed, while Troy stood up and walked into the kitchen. A minute later, he came back

with a bag of chips and a container of onion flavored dip. He put them both on the small table in the middle of the

room. "Here's the food."

Chad immediately tore the potato chip bag open, twisted the lid off the dip, then began eating.

"Chad, you're acting like you haven't eaten for years," Taylor commented.

"Well I feel like I haven't," Chad said.

"I wanna play wacecaws. Who will play with me?" little Troy asked.

"I will-after I'm done eating," Chad answered.

"Chad, you are so weird," Taylor told her boyfriend.

"No, you are," Chad protested.

"No, I'm pretty sure you are."

"Oh, you are? Well then why aren't you eating if you're not the weird one?"

"I'm not hungry."

"You barely had anything for lunch! All you had was a sandwich and an ice cream cone-a _single scoop_ ice

cream cone! How can you not be hungry?"

"A better question is, how are you hungry? You ate two double cheeseburgers, fries, a brownie, and a triple

scoop ice cream cone."

Chad didn't know what to say next. He just looked at the potato chip he held in his hand.

"See, Chad? You are weird," Taylor concluded.


	13. You're Beautiful

"WILDCAT. IT'S TIME TO GET UP. DON'T BE LAZY OR I WON'T KISS YOU FOR A MONTH," came

Gabriella's voice loudly through the speaker of Troy's alarm clock.

Troy's eyes flew open as he began laughing. He thought the wake-up message his wife had recorded was ri-

diculous-in an affectionate way of course.

"It worked!" Gabriella, who had also woken up, exclaimed.

"Yup, it did," Troy agreed, sitting up while he rubbed sleep out of his eyes.

"Are you gonna beg for more snuggles?" Gabriella asked.

"No, as much as I love to snuggle with you, I know I have to get out of bed," Troy replied.

Gabriella threw her arms around her husband and rested her cheek on his shoulder. "I'm so proud of you," she

murmured.

Troy laughed and kissed Gabriella's head.

After a moment of silence, Gabriella snuggled far into Troy's eyes and said, "I'm cold."

"Baby girl, we gotta get ready for work."

"But I wanna stay in bed with you so I can be cozy."

"Gabby, my love, we have work today."

Gabriella didn't say anything.

"Do I have to add to that wake-up message on my clock?" Troy asked teasingly. "Maybe I'll have to say some-

thing like, 'Gabby, you need to get out of bed before I refuse to snuggle with you at night.'"

"Wildcat, that's mean," Gabriella pouted.

"Honey, you threaten me in the wake-up message you recorded," Troy pointed out. "That's not exactly the nic-

est thing to do."

Gabriella giggled.

Troy reached for his alarm clock. Pressing and holding down the record button, he said, "Gabby, you need to

get out of bed before I refuse to snuggle with you at night."

"You recorded over my message!" Gabriella yelled.

Troy, who was still holding down the record button, said, "Say it."

"Wildcat. It's time to get up. Don't be lazy or I won't kiss you for a month."

Troy let go of the button.

"Play it. Please, please, please," Gabriella begged.

"Okay, okay, don't worry. I'm playing it," Troy assured his wife as he pushed the alarm sound demo button.

"GABBY, YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF BED BEFORE I REFUSE TO SNUGGLE WITH YOU AT

NIGHT. YOU RECORDED OVER MY MESSAGE! SAY IT. WILDCAT. IT'S TIME TO GET UP. DON'T BE

LAZY OR I WON'T KISS YOU FOR A MONTH," came Troy and Gabriella's voices through the speaker.

Both Troy and Gabriella began laughing hysterically. "That's so funny," Gabriella commented after they set-

tled down.

"I know," Troy agreed, still smiling as he put the clock back in it's place. "Now I think we should seriously get

up and start getting ready."

* * *

"Mommy! I cut my finger!" Brie cried from her bedroom. She had been coloring in one of her coloring books,

and one of the pages had given her a paper cut.

Gabriella, who was making dinner in the kitchen, dashed upstairs and into her daughter's room. "What hap-

pened?" she asked.

"My coloring book cut me," Brie whimpered.

"It's alright," Gabriella assured her. "Let's go in the bathroom and get a Band-Aid."

"Okay," Brie agreed, cheering up a little.

Gabriella led her daughter into the bathroom, where she cleaned out her cut and bandaged it up.

"Thank you," Brie said to her mother while walking out of the bathroom.

"You're welcome," Gabriella told her, also exiting the bathroom.

"Mommy! I stepped on one of my wacecaws and huwt my foot," little Troy whined as he ran out of his room

and into the hallway where Gabriella and Brie were.

Gabriella sighed. "Let Mommy see."

Little Troy sat down and held out his hurt foot.

"It looks alright," Gabriella commented after kneeling to look.

"But it huwts!"

"You're not bleeding. And you ran out here to tell Mommy that you got hurt, so you don't have any problems

with walking. You're fine."

"No I'm not!" little Troy argued stubbornly.

"Listen Troy. Mommy's in the middle of making dinner. You're perfectly fine."

"I'm gonna tell Daddy on you." Little Troy stood up, then ran downstairs calling, "Daddy! Daddy!"

"Gabby, honey! I smell something burning!" Gabriella heard Troy yell. "I'm turning off the oven!"

"Okay, thanks. I'm coming down right now." Gabriella descended the stairs and hurried into the kitchen.

"I don't know if whatever you were making is totally destroyed or not," said Troy, who was standing by the

counter with his son bugging him about his racecar injury.

"Let me look." Gabriella grabbed a pair of oven mitts, then pulled completely black ham slices out of the hot

oven. Seeing they were no good, she tossed them in the trash. "I-I ruined d-dinner."

Troy wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her forehead. "It's alright."

"Mommy, you'we cwying about dinner! Haha!" little Troy teased rudely.

"Stop it," Troy ordered his son in a firm voice.

Gabriella returned Troy's hug and buried her face in his chest. "I-I'm sorry."

"About what?" Troy asked gently.

"R-Ruining dinner."

"Mommy, you shouldn't eat dinner anyway," little Troy told his mother. "You'we too fat."

"Troy! Stop being mean right this second," Troy ordered sternly.

"H-He's right," Gabriella sobbed. "I-I'm fat a-and ugly."

Troy lifted Gabriella off the ground and carried her into the living room, where he sat down and placed her

on his lap. "You're not fat," he murmured softly. "Or ugly. You're beautiful."

Gabriella didn't respond.

Troy placed a kiss onto his wife's nose. "You're beautiful," he said again.

Gabriella hugged Troy tightly and buried her face in his shoulder. "I-I'm fat."

"No you're not. You're pregnant," Troy told her in a gentle voice as he returned her hug.

"I-I look f-fat."

"No, you look pregnant. And to me, that makes you all the more beautiful."

"I-I love you."

"I love you, too. Now about dinner...." Troy paused for a moment.

"I-It's ruined," Gabriella reminded him tearfully.

"And that's okay. I was gonna suggest going out to eat tonight."

Gabriella lifted her head and looked into Troy's eyes. "I-I'm sorry."

"For what?" Troy asked softly, brushing his wife's tears off her face with his fingers.

"Acting this way," Gabriella replied quietly, keeping her eyes locked with Troy's.

"It's okay. You're pregnant. It's perfectly normal for you to have sudden bad moods. Remember when the doc-

tor told us that when you first found out you were having the twins?"

"Yes, but I didn't do this when I was pregnant with them."

"Well each time is different."

Gabriella nodded slowly.

"Great," Troy said with a smile, knowing that nod meant she understood what he had been telling her. "And

remember-you're beautiful."

* * *

**Sorry this chapter was so short. I didn't know what else to put in it. Oh, and have a (late) merry Christ- **

**mas! **


	14. Julliette

**Before I begin, I would like to say thank you to ranimohd91 for helping me get this chapter started. If**

**I didn't have help, this story would probably be on hiatus right now.**

* * *

Months had gone by, making it early in the month of March. Gabriella was on the sofa in the living room read-

ing a good book. Suddenly, she felt sharp pains in her stomach. "TROY!" she yelled, standing up and running

outside, where her husband was watching the twins play on the swing set. "TROY!"

"Yeah, baby girl?" Troy asked, turning to look at his wife.

"The baby," Gabriella said in panicked tone.

"Kids, let's go," Troy called. "You have to go to Grandpa and Grandma's house."

"Why?" Brie questioned.

"Just go to the car and get in! Daddy has to take Mommy to the hospital," Troy instructed as he led Gabriella

to the car and helped her in.

Little Troy and Brie climbed into their seats. "Why is Mommy going to the hospital?" they both wondered.

"She's gonna have her baby," Troy explained, pulling out of the driveway.

Gabriella moaned in pain.

"Honey, are you okay?" Troy asked worriedly.

"It hurts," Gabriella answered. "Really bad."

"I wish I could make it better," Troy told her.

"IT'S GONNA BE REAL SOON!" Gabriella screamed.

"Can you wait until we get to the hospital?"

"I don't know."

Troy immediately turned the car around. "We're going back home. You can't have a baby in the car."

"I wanna go to Gwandpa and Gwandma's!" little Troy whined.

"Too bad," Troy told his son.

"IT HURTS!" Gabriella screamed.

"We're almost home," Troy soothed.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!"

"When we get home, go in our room and lie down on the bed."

"I wanna go to Gwandpa and Gwandma's," little Troy complained again.

"SHUT UP!" Troy yelled angrily as he hurriedly pulled into the driveway of his family's house.

Gabriella got out of the car and rushed inside the house, thankful that the door had accidentally been left un-

locked.

"Okay, kids, I want you to stay downstairs and be good," Troy instructed the twins after both of them and him

were inside. "In a minute, I'll call Grandpa and Grandma to come over and pick you up." He then ran upstairs and

into the room he shared with Gabriella, shutting the door behind him.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Gabriella asked, seeing her husband.

"No," Troy replied truthfully before grabbing his cell phone and dialing 911. When someone answered, he ex-

plained what was going on. After he was assured an ambulance would be sent out right away, he hung up and

called his parents to ask it they could come get the kids. Their answer was yes.

"SHE'S COMING!" Gabriella screamed. "OW! OW!"

"It'll be alright," Troy said in a comforting tone.

A minute later, a baby girl was lying on the bed crying. Troy grabbed a blanket, wrapped her in it, then handed

her to Gabriella.

Gabriella smiled as she held her new daughter in her arms. "She's wonderful."

Troy sat on the edge of the bed next to his wife and kissed her cheek. "I'm proud of you."

Gabriella put her head on Troy's shoulder. "I'm proud of you, too. You handled this very well."

"Are you tired?"

Gabriella yawned and nodded sleepily. Having a baby was hard work.

"Can I hold our daughter?"

"Sure." Gabriella handed her baby to Troy.

"She has your nose," Troy commented.

"But it looks like she has your hair and eye color," Gabriella pointed out.

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "I wonder if she'll get curls or not once her hair grows out."

"We'll just have to wait and see."

At that moment, the doorbell rang. "I'll go get it," Troy told is wife, handing the baby back to her. He then

rushed downstairs and opened the front door. It was his parents.

"Is everything okay?" Mrs. Bolton asked.

"Yeah," Troy answered. "Gabby just had the baby a few minutes ago."

"Did it go okay?"

Troy nodded.

"Where are Troy and Brie?" Mr. Bolton wondered.

"Right in the living room," Troy replied. Then he called, "Kids! Get your shoes on! Grandpa and Grandma are

here!"

Little Troy and Brie ran to get their shoes, then, after putting them on, hurried outside.

"Gabriella and I will pick them up in about an hour," Troy told his parents.

"Okay," Mr. Bolton said.

Just then, the ambulance pulled up to the house.

"Big twuck!" little Troy yelled.

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "Now go with Grandpa and Grandma."

The kids followed their grandparents to their car while the doctor came to the door. "Hi," he greeted. "Are you

Troy Bolton?"

Troy nodded.

"Alright. Well I'll get your wife checked out on the way to the hospital," the doctor said. "Where is she?"

"In our bedroom. You can come in."

The doctor went inside and followed Troy upstairs to see Gabriella. "Do you feel okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I feel fine," Gabriella answered.

"Well I just want you to come to the hospital to get checked out. I have the ambulance out front with a couple

more doctors waiting in it. You'd better ride in there just in case something happens."

"What about my baby?" Gabriella wondered.

"You can bring your baby."

"Can Troy come, too?"

"If he takes his car instead of the ambulance."

Gabriella looked very disappointed and a little scared. She had never rode in an ambulance before. She didn't

know what to expect at all. Her little daughter still needed to be dressed and fed, and she felt like she needed to

get changed; the maternity clothing that was on her body felt way too big and kind of dirty from giving birth.

"Could I please have a minute to get changed, dress my baby, and get a bottle ready?"

"You can bring your stuff in the ambulance and do it in there," was the doctor's reply.

Gabriella's mouth opened wide in shock. There was no way she was going to get changed in front of a bunch

of doctors. And she desperately needed to put at least a diaper on her daughter-she would probably have to go to

the bathroom any minute.

"You know what," Troy began in a firm voice as he faced the doctor, "How would you feel if someone asked

your wife to get changed with strange men around? She's fine. It's not an urgent emergency. There's no reason for

that."

"I don't have a wife," the doctor answered rudely. "And she needs to go now. There's no time to worry about

whether or not she has privacy. She'll have to live with it."

"You leave my house right now," Troy ordered. "And I'm reporting you to the hospital manager. Not letting

me go in the ambulance with her and disrespecting her privacy is ridiculous."

"But you called for doctors to come out."

"Yes, I did. But I didn't know a doctor who didn't respect anyone's privacy would come. I'm the only one who's

allowed to see my wife while she's getting changed. You're just....disgusting. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE NOW."

"I'll send you the bill." With that, the doctor hurried out of the house.

Troy rolled his eyes. "The stupid idiot," he mumbled. "I shouldn't owe you half a penny."

"Can you get a diaper?" Gabriella requested.

"Sure, baby girl," Troy replied, pressing a quick kiss onto his wife's nose before hurrying to grab the needed

item. After he got it, he gave it to Gabriella. "After you get all ready, I'll take you to the hospital myself-just to

be positive you're alright."

"Thanks, Wildcat," Gabriella said as she began putting the diaper on her baby.

"You're welcome," Troy told her.

"Can I have an outfit for her, too?" Gabriella asked.

"Of course." Troy left the room and came back a minute later with a pink top made of soft material along with

matching pants.

After Gabriella got her baby dressed, she changed her clothes, then announced, "I'm ready to go."

* * *

"What's your daughter's name?" a nurse asked Gabriella. She was at the hospital, and it was time to fill out the

birth certificate.

"Julliette Bolton. And my husband and I would like to spell Julliette J-U-L-L-I-E-T-T-E," Gabriella replied.

"Okay," the nurse said, writing the name down on a paper. "And she was born this evening, right?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yes."

"Alright, well thanks." The nurse then left the room.

"Honey, is it okay if I go pick up the kids from my parents' house and bring them here?" Troy asked his wife.

"Sure. Just make sure they-especially Troy-know not to hit Julliette."

"I will," Troy promised. "I'll see you in a little bit." He pressed his lips onto Gabriella's in a good-bye kiss.

Gabriella kissed Troy back. "I'll see you."

Troy then walked out of the room and accidentally ran into someone. "Sorry," he apologized.

"Troy?"

Troy looked at the person he had just bumped into and reconized Zeke. "Zeke, what are you doing here?"

"Sharpay had her baby this morning," Zeke answered.

"Oh, really? Gabby had hers."

"I now have a son named James."

"I have a daughter named Julliette."

"Cool."

"Well, I'd better go. I have to pick up Troy and Brie from my mom and dad's house," Troy told his friend.

"Alright, well I'll see you later," Zeke said. "Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

"Okay, kids," Troy began as he walked into the hospital with the twins. "Now I want you to be nice to both

Mommy and your new sister. No hitting, yelling, or throwing things. Do you hear?"

"Yeah," Brie said.

Little Troy didn't answer.

"Troy, do you hear what Daddy said?"

"Yeah," little Troy answered.

"I mean that. If you hit or hurt your sister-or Mommy-you're gonna have to have a _very_ long time out."

"Okay."

Troy led the kids into Gabriella's hospital room, where she was holding a crying Julliette.

"The baby's too loud!" Brie complained.

"She's a stupid baby," little Troy added.

"Her name's Julliette," Troy informed his son and oldest daughter. "And you need to be nice."

"Stupid baby, stupid baby," little Troy teased.

"Troy! Sit down now and be quiet," Troy ordered his son.

Little Troy sat down in a chair that was located in the corner of the hospital room.

"Thank you," Troy told his son. Then, turning toward Gabriella, he said, "Oh, guess what? Sharpay had her

baby today, too. I saw Zeke when I was leaving to get the kids."

"She did?" Gabriella asked in surprise. "Was it a girl or boy?"

"Boy. They named him James."

"That's a coincedence that we both had our babies on the same day."

"I know." Troy sat on the edge of the bed next to Gabriella and kissed her cheek.

Gabriella smiled and kissed her husband's cheek in return, then grabbed the full baby bottle off the small table

that was next to her and offered it to Julliette, stopped crying and began drinking it hungrily.

"Julliette's being quiet now," Brie commented.

"Yeah, do you wanna come over to Mommy's bed and look at her?" Troy asked.

Brie nodded and skipped over to see her little sister. "Can I hold her?" she asked her mother.

"No, not now," Gabriella answered. "She's eating. But when she's done, you can sit next to Mommy and Dad-

dy will help you hold her in your lap, okay?"

"Yay!" Brie exclaimed excitedly.

Just then, little Troy walked over to where the rest of his family was gathered. "I wanna hold her, too."

"If you do, you have to be very gentle," Troy cautioned his son. "And not hit her."

"She's a baby! I wouldn't hit her," little Troy assured his dad.

"Okay," Troy said, surprised at his son's sudden attitude change. "I'm glad." Then, he thought about how lucky

he was to have three kids and a sweet, loving wife. His life couldn't be any better.


	15. Life With a Fifth Family Member

"Did you have fun sleeping over at Grandpa and Grandma's house?" Gabriella asked her twins as they ran

into the car carrying backpacks full of overnight necessities. Since Gabriella had been required to stay overnight

at the hospital and Troy had insisted on staying there with her, little Troy and Brie had slept over at Troy's par-

ents' house.

"Yeah!" both the twins yelled.

"That's good," Gabriella commented with a smile.

"Gwandma made cookies and she let us have some!" little Troy told his mother.

"I hope you didn't eat too many."

"I only had two. I wanted thwee, but Gwandma said no."

"Did you throw a fit about it?" Troy cut in as he backed out of his parents' driveway and began driving home.

"No, he didn't," Brie answered for her brother.

At that moment, Julliette, who was in the baskseat between her brother and sister, began crying.

"Julliette's too loud!" Brie complained, covering her ears.

"She's probably hungry," Gabriella informed her daughter.

"I'll give her a fwuit snack from the fwuit snack pack Gwandpa let me have," Brie offered as she grabbed a

small bag from her backpack and opened it. Right before she and her brother had left their grandparents' house,

Mr. Bolton had given them each a pack of fruit snacks.

"NO!" Gabriella shouted.

Brie didn't listen. Instead, she shoved a cherry flavored gummy into her little sister's mouth.

Julliette began coughing.

"Wildcat, pull over to the side of the road," Gabriella instructed Troy in a panicked tone.

Troy immediately did as his wife wished. He then unbuckled his seatbelt, climbed into the back of the car, and

took the gummy out of his baby daughter's mouth. Putting it in an empty McDonalds' bag that was lying at little

Troy's feet, he firmly said, "Brie, babies can't eat anything yet; they can only drink milk. So don't give your sister

big kid food. Troy, that goes for you, too."

"Okay," both the twins agreed.

"Great." Troy then climbed back into the drivers' seat and continued driving home.

"Can Julliette have gummies when she's a big giwl?" Brie wondered aloud.

"Yes, when she's a big girl," Troy confirmed.

"Can I hold her when we get home?"

"Yes, but only when Mommy or Daddy say it's okay to," Gabriella replied.

At that moment, Troy pulled into the driveway of his family's house. Once he was parked, he got out of the car

along with Gabriella. Then, they each opened one of the back doors for the twins, who hurried onto porch carry-

ing their backpacks. After that, Gabriella took Julliette from her car seat and carefully carried her to the front

door, which Troy unlocked.

"Can I hold Julliette now?" Brie requested after everyone was inside standing in the living room.

"No, Mommy has to give her a bottle," Gabriella answered. "And you and your brother need to take your

backpacks upstairs to your rooms."

"Aw," Brie said in disappointment as she slowly made her way upstairs with little Troy following her.

"I'll hold her while you get a bottle ready," Troy, who was right next to Gabriella, offered.

Gabriella handed her daughter to Troy, then went into the kitchen. After preparing a bottle, she hurried back to

her daughter.

"Could I feed it to her?" Troy asked his wife.

"Alright," Gabriella agreed, handing the bottle to Troy as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You're such a

good father."

Troy smiled at his wife. "And you're a good mother."

"I'm gonna call my mom and let her know I had my baby," Gabriella announced.

"Okay."

Gabriella grabbed the cordless phone that was in the living room and dialed her mom's number.

"Hello?" Mrs. Montez said.

"Hi, Mom, it's Gabriella," Gabriella greeted.

"Oh, hi! How is everything?"

"I had my baby yesterday."

"Really? That's great! What's her name? I forget what you told me you were going to name her."

"Julliette."

"Oh, that's right. Are Troy and Brie nice to her?"

"Yeah, they actually are."

"That's good. Is it okay if I come up to Albuquerque tomorrow so I can see her?"

"Sure. Troy and I will both be home; we took off work for a month because of Julliette."

"Troy seems like he's more involved with helping to take care of his kids than most fathers are," Mrs. Montez

observed.

"He's really sweet," was Gabriella's response.

"Yes, it seems like you made a great choice. Now I'd better let you go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mom. Bye."

"Bye, Gabriella."

Gabriella hung up the phone, then told Troy, "My mom's coming over tomorrow to see Julliette."

"That's fine," Troy said.

Gabriella yawned and rested her cheek on her husband's shoulder. "I'm exausted."

"Yeah, me, too," Troy agreed, letting his head fall on top of Gabriella's.

"It's gonna be a while before we get a decent sleep, though," Gabriella reminded Troy.

"I know," Troy murmured softly. "Believe me; I know."

* * *

Gabriella woke up to the sound of her baby crying. _She probably wants a bottle,_ she thought to herself as she

looked at the clock that was on the end table next to her and Troy's bed. It was midnight. _I only went to sleep two _

_hours ago, _she remembered with a yawn. Then, resisting the temptation to stay cuddled in Troy's arms and try to

fall asleep again, she whispered, "Wildcat. Julliette's crying."

"M-hm," Troy mumbled in his sleep.

Gabriella managed to free one arm from her husband's tight grasp. _Snuggling is a pain sometimes,_ she silently

noted.

"Don't leave me, baby," Troy groaned inaudibly as he pulled Gabriella even closer to his body than she had

been.

Just then, a knock was heard on the door, followed by, "Mommy! Julliette's cwying!" It was Brie.

"She woke me up!" another voice added.

"I hear her, too. But Daddy won't let me get up to check on her," Gabriella called to her twins. Then, to Troy,

she loudly said, "Wildcat. Julliette's crying. You need to let go of me."

"Mommy, I can't sleep with the cwying!" Brie complained.

"Me neither!" little Troy agreed.

"Alright, how about you two come in and jump on Daddy to wake him up?" Gabriella suggested.

The door opened and the twins, who were laughing, ran into their parents' room and jumped on their father.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Troy asked in an annoyed tone as he hurriedly opened his eyes and sat up.

"Mommy said to jump on you," Brie answered.

"Julliette's crying," Gabriella explained to her husband. "I tried to wake you up, but I couldn't. The kids came

to our door to tell me they woke up because of the baby, so I asked them to jump on you to wake you up."

"And let me guess," Troy began. "I was holding you so tight you couldn't get out of bed?"

"Right," Gabriella confirmed, getting off the bed.

"It was fun jumping on Daddy!" little Troy announced.

"Well don't jump on him unless I tell you to," Gabriella warned as she walked out of the room and went to her

still crying baby. "Are you hungry, Julliette?" she asked gently.

Julliette began crying harder.

"Mommy will go make you a bottle," Gabriella comforted. Then, raising her voice, she called, "Wildcat! Can

you hold Julliette while I make her a bottle?"

"Okay," was Troy's answer.

"Thanks."

A second later, Troy appeared in his baby daughter's room. Lifting Julliette out of her crib, he told Gabriella,

"I got her. You can go ahead and get a bottle ready."

"Alright." Gabriella, after pausing to kiss her husband's cheek affectionately, hurried downstairs and into the

kitchen. As quick as she could, she mixed up the baby formula, then rushed back to Julliette. Carefully taking her

from Troy, she placed the bottle at her tiny lips.

Julliette stopped crying and began drinking her milk.

"Mommy," Brie said as she ran into her little sister's room.

"Yeah, Brie?" asked Gabriella.

"Can I help feed Julliette?"

"Me, too!" little Troy yelled enthusiastically as he, too, entered the room.

"Not right now," was Gabriella's reply. "You two need to go back to bed. Tomorrow's Monday, which means

you have school. And Mommy doesn't want you to be falling asleep during that."

The twins looked disappointed, but surprisingly didn't speak.

"Daddy will come with you to your bedrooms," Troy offered.

"Okay," Brie agreed.

"Fine," little Troy mumbled reluctantly.

Troy led his twins out into the hallway, then watched as they each walked into their individual rooms and

climbed into their beds. "Good night."

"Good night," both little Troy and Brie returned.

"Honey," Troy began as he went back to his wife and youngest daughter.

"Yeah, Wildcat?" Gabriella responded.

"Would you like me to finish giving Julliette her bottle? You look exausted."

"I'm fine."

"No, you look super sleepy. Go back in our room and wait for me in bed."

"I'll be okay."

Troy kissed Gabriella's nose, then one of her cheeks. After that, he wrapped his arms gently around her waist,

which was still slender even after having three children. "You're shivering," he observed as he felt a mild shaking

come from her body.

"It's a cold night," Gabriella commented.

"I know, my love." Troy pressed his lips onto his wife's shoulder-which was covered by one of his shirts-then

rested his chin on it. "Please go get warm in bed," he pleaded.

"I'm fine," Gabriella argued gently.

"Bed. Now," Troy ordered affectionately as he carefully took the baby from her mother's arms, along with the

bottle.

"Wildcat," Gabriella began.

"Go get warm."

Gabriella, deciding not to argue further, left her daughter's room and went into her and Troy's. Getting into

bed, she pulled the covers over her. _This feels weird,_ she thought. _I'm used to having Troy right beside me to _

_snuggle up to._ _I can't get comfy like this._...._wait, I'm sure I can. I didn't have him in bed with me for most of my _

_life! But now that I'm used to it, being in bed without him just feels weird. What am I gonna do if he.....dies? _At

that thought, tears came into her eyes.

A minute later, Troy walked into his and Gabriella's room, where he saw his wife on the bed sobbing. "Baby

girl, what's wrong?" he asked, hurrying over to lie down beside her and hold her.

"I-I don't w-want you t-to d-die," Gabriella told him, burying her face in his chest and hugging him tightly.

"Oh, precious Gabby, I'm not gonna die," Troy comforted as he gently began to rub Gabriella's back and press

kisses onto the top of her head. To himself, he wondered, _What made her think of me dying?_

"B-But you c-can't help i-it if y-you d-die."

"Calm down, my love," Troy murmured.

"I-I don't k-know w-what I w-would do w-without y-you," Gabriella went on.

"Shh, honey, it's okay. I'm not gonna leave you anytime soon. I promise."

"I-I love y-you."

"I love you, too. Now let's try to get some rest."

Gabriella closed her eyes and snuggled far into Troy, her tears stopping. "Good night, Wildcat."

"Good night," Troy returned.

Then, both Troy and Gabriella fell into a deep sleep.


	16. Tutu and Hoops

Two months had passed. It was now early in May, and unbearable heat was falling over Albuquerque despite

the fact that it was still spring.

"Mommy, I'm hot," Brie complained to her mother one night at bedtime.

"Why don't you put on some shorts and a sleeveless top?" Gabriella suggested, pulling some clothes out of

her oldest daughter's closet.

"Okay," Brie agreed. She put on the things that Gabriella had suggested, then laid down in bed on top of the

covers.

"Are you comfortable?" Gabriella asked.

"I'm still kinda hot," Brie whined.

"Well there's nothing more Mommy can do; the air conditioner is turned up all the way and all the window

fans are on."

"I guess I'll twy to sleep."

"Great." Gabriella kissed her daughter's forehead, then switched the lamp next to her bed off, left the room,

then went to go check on Julliette. She found her just as she had left her an hour ago-asleep.

"Are you ready for bed?" Troy whispered as he walked into his baby daughter's room to see Gabriella.

Gabriella nodded and left the room, her husband following her. "Is Troy okay?"

"Yeah. I told him to sleep on top of the covers in a pair of shorts."

"Good. Let me quick say good night to him. You can wait in our room if you want."

"Alright. I'll be waiting for you in there." Troy walked into the room he shared with Gabriella.

Gabriella went into her son's room, said good night to him, then joined her husband.

"Wanna take a cold bath?" Troy suggested.

"Sure," Gabriella agreed.

Troy led Gabriella out of the bedroom and into the bathroom, where he shut the door behind them and start-

ed the bath water.

"When it's freezing cold outside, we have hot baths, and when it's unbearable hot, we have cold ones," Gab-

riella commented.

"I know."

Gabriella smiled and wrapped her arms around Troy.

Troy returned his wife's hug. "I love you."

"Love you, too," Gabriella returned.

* * *

"That was refreshing," Gabriella remarked as she walked out of the bathroom with Troy.

"Yeah, it was," Troy agreed as he led Gabriella into the master bedroom. He then shut and locked the door be-

hind them.

"I'm so tired," Gabriella informed Troy as she plopped down on the bed, wrapped in the towel she had used to

dry herself off after the bath she had taken with Troy.

"Let's go to sleep then," suggested Troy, lying down beside Gabriella and snuggling close to her.

"Heat makes me tired."

"I know. Do you wanna put on one of my shirts or anything?"

Gabriella yawned. "Is the door locked so no kids can come in?"

Troy nodded.

"Alright. Well then I'm good. Unless you want me to put on one of your shirts."

"You don't have to. Don't waste your energy. I'm the only other one in here, and I don't care if you sleep in

your towel. It probably will keep you kind of cool, anyway. I'm just gonna throw on a pair of shorts." Sliding off

the bed, Troy grabbed shorts out of the closet, put them on, then laid back down next to his wife.

Gabriella switched off the light that was next to the bed, then asked, "Can I have a good night kiss?"

"Of course." Troy pressed his lips onto Gabriella's in a passionate kiss.

Gabriella returned the kiss. After that, she snuggled close to Troy and closed her eyes.

"You're so snuggly," Troy commented, wrapping his arms around his wife.

"I can't sleep if I'm not snuggling."

"Neither can I."

"Tomorrow I was thinking we could go somewhere."

"Where, the pool?"

"Yeah."

"We could walk there. Do you wanna?"

"Sure. The pool's not far."

"Alright. Well we have plans for tomorrow then."

"Yeah," Gabriella agreed.

"Good night," Troy said.

"Good night. I love you."

"Love you, too."

* * *

Troy and Gabriella stepped out of the house, Gabriella holding Julliette. The twins followed. "We're going

to the pool!" they screamed.

"Yes, we are," Gabriella agreed.

"You two need to stay right with Mommy and Daddy while we walk there," Troy instructed firmly.

"Okay," little Troy responded.

"I will," Brie promised.

Troy and Gabriella then led their kids down the driveway and onto the sidewalk. After about five minutes of

walking, they came to a pet store, where two fluffy kittens could be seen through the window; one was an orange

tabby and one was a calico.

"Kittens!" little Troy exclaimed, pressing his face right against the window.

Brie copied her brother. "They're so cute!!!!!!"

"Kids, get your faces away from the window, please," Gabriella told the twins.

"Mommy, Daddy, can we please get them?" Brie pleaded, facing her parents with pleading eyes.

"Please?" little Troy begged, also looking at his parents.

"Kids, I don't know," Troy answered.

"We should get them," Gabriella disagreed gently. "Wildcat, you promised me that one day we could get a

pet."

"Oh, alright," Troy agreed. "Let's go in and look."

"Yay!" the twins shouted, jumping up and down.

"Thanks, Wildcat. I love you," Gabriella told Troy as she pressed a kiss onto his cheek.

Troy smiled and kissed his wife's nose, then walked over to the door of the pet store and opened it, letting

everyone-including himself-inside.

The twins ran over to the kitten cage. "They'we so cute!" Brie squealed.

Gabriella and Troy followed little Troy and Brie. "They are adorable," Gabriella commented.

"They aren't as adorable as you," Troy pointed out in a soft tone.

"Should we find someone who works here?"

"Yeah."

At that moment, a lady, seeing the Bolton family by the kittens, came over to them. "Are you interested in a-

dopting the kittens?"

"Yes," Gabriella replied.

"Okay." The lady opened the kitten cage and took out both the kittens. "Can you hold one?" she asked Troy.

Troy took the offered kitten, which was the calico one.

"Well the one I'm holding is a boy," the lady began. "And the one he has is a girl."

"Daddy, I wanna hold her!" Brie said.

"No, Daddy's gonna hold her. You can hold her at home," Troy told his daughter.

"Awe they coming home today?" little Troy wondered.

"I want them to!" Brie yelled.

* * *

Troy opened the carrier the kittens were in and let them walk out of it and into the living room.

"I wanna hold one!" little Troy screamed.

The two kittens dashed under the sofa in fear, their little tails fluffed out.

"Come out!" Brie shouted, poking her head under the sofa.

"Brie, Troy," Gabriella began, "You two need to be calm and quiet around the kittens. They're only babies.

Now how about you leave them alone for a minute and help Mommy set up the kitty potty and kitty food?"

"What's a kitty potty?" little Troy questioned.

"It's a place where the kitties will go potty," Gabriella explained. "It's basically a box with some sandy stuff in

it."

"Will their potty be in the bathwoom?" Brie wondered.

"No. It'll be in the laundry room."

"Oh."

"Come on and let's set it up." Gabriella then led the kids into the laundry room, where she helped them pour

cat litter into the litter box. Once they were done with that, she announced, "Let's go in the kitchen and get some

food and water in the kitties' bowls."

After food and water was put in the bowls, the two fluffy kittens ran out to the kitchen and began eating.

"What are you gonna name them?" Troy asked.

"I wanna name the giwl Tutu; like a ballet tutu," Brie replied, "And the boy Owange."

"No, the boy should be named Hoops!" little Troy protested. "Like a basketball hoop!"

"No, his name should be Owange!"

"No, Hoops!"

"Troy, Brie," Gabriella cut in. "Mommy's gonna tell you something. Troy, you can name the boy kitty, and

Brie, you can name the girl."

"The boy kitty is Hoops!" little Troy announced, jumping up and down.

"And the girl is Tutu!" Brie added.

At that moment, Gabriella heard Julliette crying from upstairs in her crib. "Wildcat, can you keep and eye on

the kids and the kittens? I need to go see to Julliette."

"Sure," Troy answered.

Gabriella hurried upstairs to check on her baby.

"Daddy wants you two to listen to him for a minute," Troy said to his twins.

Brie turned toward her father, but little Troy ignored his words and tried to lift Hoops off the floor.

"Troy, leave the cat alone and listen," Troy ordered firmly.

_Mmmrrrrooowww!_ Hoops complained, biting little Troy's hand with his sharp teeth.

"Daddy, he bit me!" little Troy whined as he began crying.

"Well that's what happens when you ignore Daddy and try to pick the cat up while he's eating."

"But he b-bit me."

"Daddy wanted to tell you and Brie the rules about the kittens. You're not to pull their ears, tails, or whiskers.

You need to be gentle with them; no petting them roughly. You must leave them alone while they're eating."

"Tutu's done eating!" Brie announced loudly.

"Okay, well now Daddy's gonna show you two how to properly hold a cat." Troy lifted Tutu off the ground,

firmly holding her hind paws with one hand while the other hand was just under her front legs.

"Can I hold her?" Brie begged.

"Yes, but you need to go sit down on the sofa."

Brie did as her father told her. "I'm weady to hold Tutu."

Troy carefully handed the kitten to his daughter.

"She's making a noise!" Brie yelled as Tutu began purring.

Troy sat next to Brie and listened. "She's purring," he told her.

"What's puwing?"

"It's a noise cats make when they're happy. So Tutu's happy right now."

"Yay!"

"Hoops is coming!" little Troy yelled as he followed the orange kitten into the living room.

Troy got off the sofa and picked up Hoops. "Do you wanna hold him?"

Little Troy nodded.

"Alright, well sit on the sofa next to your sister."

Little Troy jumped onto the sofa, causing Tutu to squirm out of Brie's arms and run away.

"Twoy!" Brie yelled.

"Troy, calm down or you won't be holding Hoops. Brie, stop yelling at your brother," Troy told his kids.

"Fine," little Troy mumbled.

Brie got off the sofa and ran upstairs. "Mommy! Daddy was mean!"

Troy transferred the tiny kitten that was snuggled in his arms to his son's. "Hold him securely."

"Okay."

At that moment, Brie came back downstairs followed by Gabriella, who was holding a crying Julliette. "Mom-

my said it was okay you told me to stop yelling," Brie whined to Troy.

"Wildcat, could you please hold Julliette while I make her a bottle?" Gabriella requested.

Troy took his baby daughter from his wife.

"HOOPS RAN AWAY!" little Troy screamed as the little orange kitten wriggled out of his grasp and ran

off the sofa and across the living room.

"Shut up!" Brie commanded, hitting her brother's arm.

"No, you shut up!" little Troy argued, hitting his sister back.

"KIDS!" Troy called loudly. "Stop this. I don't know what got into you."

Julliette began crying louder.

_This is the craziest household ever,_ Troy thought to himself.

"I can take Julliette again," Gabriella told Troy, walking into the living room with a bottle.

Troy handed Julliette to Gabriella. "The kids are acting crazy."

"They're probably in a bad mood because of the heat," Gabriella suggested.

"Yeah, I guess."

Gabriella offered Julliette her bottle, only to have her reject it.

"Doesn't she wanna eat?"

"No."

"Maybe she's hot."

"Maybe," Gabriella agreed. "I'll let her finish her nap in just her diaper."

"I think the diaper's what's hot," Troy pointed out. "It is really thick."

"Well we'll try it. She can't be without a diaper."

"Mommy," Brie cut in. "Don't take Julliette's clothes off! That's bad."

"Brie, she's a baby," Gabriella explained. "It's okay if babies just wear their diapers. You and your brother are

too old to walk around in your underwear, but Julliette's just little. When she's a big girl she'll have to leave her

clothes on like everyone else."

"Why is it okay for babies?" little Troy wondered.

"Because they're just little," Gabriella replied. "You and your sister are old enough to know about privacy."

"But why does Daddy go in the bathwoom with you sometimes?" Brie questioned.

"You'll understand when you're older," Gabriella assured her daughter.

"Oh," was all Brie said.

"Let's go look for the kittens!" little Troy yelled, getting off the sofa and running in the direction Hoops had

gone in.

Brie followed her brother.

"Kids! Slow down!" Troy instructed.

The twins didn't listen.

Troy sighed and sat down on the sofa.

"What's wrong, Wildcat?" Gabriella asked, concerned as she sat next to her husband with Julliette still in her

arms crying.

"These kids are wearing me out."


	17. Chaos

"Tutu, come back!" Brie shouted, going after the calico kitten who was running upstairs and into her parents'

bedroom.

"Brie, stop shouting and maybe the kitten will come to you," Troy, who was sitting on his and Gabriella's bed,

suggested.

"But I wanna hold her!" Brie told her father.

"Hoops went undew my bed!" little Troy screamed from his room.

"Leave the kittens alone," Troy instructed. "They don't always want to be held."

"Whewe's Mommy?" Brie asked.

"Putting Julliette down for a nap," Troy answered.

"Oh. Well I have to go potty and only Mommy can take me to the potty."

"You're a big girl; you can go by yourself."

"I can't reach the sink."

"Well why don't you go potty and then Daddy will help you wash your hands, okay?"

"Okay." Brie hurried into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

_We should really get a stool to put by the sink,_ Troy thought to himself.

"Wildcat, can you come hold Julliette while I get a bottle ready for her? I think she's hungry," Gabriella called.

"I'm coming, baby girl," Troy responded, rushing out of his and Gabriella's room and into his youngest daugh-

ter's.

"You look tired," Gabriella commented sympathetically when she saw her husband. She handed him the baby,

then gave him a loving look as she pushed his bangs out of his face and stood on her toes to kiss his forehead.

"I'll be okay," Troy assured Gabriella, pressing his lips onto her nose.

"We'll continue this discussion later," Gabriella decided, leaving the room and walking downstairs.

"Daddy, I'm weady to wash my hands," Brie announced from the bathroom.

"Daddy's helping Mommy with something. You'll have to wait a minute," Troy told her.

"HOOPS BIT ME!" little Troy screamed.

"Is it bleeding?" Troy asked loudly.

"No, it just huwts," little Troy whined. "Can I put Hoops in time out?"

"Kitties can't go in time out," Troy replied. "They're animals."

At that moment, Gabriella walked into Julliette's room. "I have the bottle. Now I'll take the baby and you go

rest in our room."

"But Brie needs help washing her hands and Hoops bit Troy," Troy explained.

Gabriella sighed and took Julliette from her father.

"I'll go in our room whenever I'm done seeing to the twins." Troy then walked out the door.

* * *

"Wildcat, I love you," Gabriella began. Fifteen minutes had passed, so Troy and Gabriella had gotten the op-

portunity to meet each other in their bedroom.

"I love you, too," Troy said back.

"And I want to talk to you about something."

"Anything."

"I don't want any more kids-well at least not for a minimum of five years."

"I don't, either," Troy agreed.

"Great. I didn't know if you would be upset at all or not. But anyway, just telling you now, please don't get me

pregnant again anytime soon."

"I won't," Troy promised. "Until you're ready to have another baby-if you ever want one."

"Thanks. And you know that this doesn't mean I don't want you anymore or I'm bored of you, right?"

Troy nodded. "I totally understand, precious Gabby."

"Thanks." Gabriella threw her arms around Troy.

Troy returned Gabriella's hug. "You're welcome, baby girl."

"I'll love you forever."

"Same with me. Oh, and like I was saying before, you look tired; I want you to relax for a little."

"Mommy! Twoy threw a wacecaw at me!" Brie called from downstairs.

"TROY!" Troy yelled.

"I'd better go see what's going on," Gabriella told Troy.

Troy pressed a kiss onto his wife's cheek before letting go of her and heading toward the stairs.

Gabriella followed Troy. "You're supposed to be relaxing, Wildcat."

"I DIDN'T THROW IT!" little Troy screamed when he saw he parents.

"Yes he did," disagreed.

"Troy, go in time out," Gabriella ordered.

"I don't wanna!" little Troy shouted.

"Go. Now." Troy said sternly.

Pouting, little Troy stomped upstairs and into his room.

"Tutu!" Brie squealed, seeing the calico kitten emerge out of under the sofa.

"Be nice to her," Gabriella reminded her daughter.

Brie carefully picked up Tutu and held her. "Is she my cat?"

"Yes, she's yours. And Hoops is your brother's. When you're older, you won't have Mommy and Daddy's help

with taking care of them anymore."

"I can take cawe of her all by myself," Brie announced.

"Well you need help for now."

"Why doesn't Julliette have a kitty?"

"She's too little," Troy answered.

"Oh."

"I'm done time out," little Troy said as he appeared downstairs.

"No, you're not," Troy told his son. "Go back in your room."

"But I'm done with time out."

"Room. Now."

Little Troy hit his dad.

"You're getting one of your racecars taken away." Troy picked up the racecar his son had thrown at Brie and

carried it upstairs.

"DADDY! NO!" little Troy screamed, running after his father.

"Go in your room," Troy ordered firmly.

"GIVE ME BACK MY WACECAW!"

"Stop it. You're gonna wake your baby sister."

"SHE'S NOT SLEEPING!"

"Yes she is. And stop yelling."

"GIVE ME BACK MY WACECAW!"

Troy picked up little Troy, took his into his bedroom, put him down on the bed, and told him, "Stay here."

"I want my wacecaw!"

"Too bad." Troy left the room, went into his own, and hid his son's racecar.

"Are you okay, Wildcat?" Gabriella asked, coming into the doorway.

"Yeah," Troy answered, walking over to stand with his wife.

Gabriella threw her arms around Troy. "You really need to relax."

"Relax with me," Troy pleaded as he hugged Gabriella back.

"I don't think I can. I need to keep an eye on the kids."

Troy gave Gabriella a severely disappointed look. "But you need to relax, too."

"Wildcat, please. Just go outside and shoot hoops or something."

"I can't. Honey, you mean everything to me. I don't want to leave you fully responsible for three kids when I

don't have to."

"Alright," Gabriella gave in. "But tonight, we're both gonna relax after the kids are in bed."

"What do you have planned?" Troy wondered.

"Cuddling on the sofa and reading."

"I hate to say this, my love, but I hate reading."

"Can you just give it a try? We'll pick a good book."

"I've read everything from a biography to science fiction during the years I was in school. And I hated all of

them."

"Please? You can kiss me all you want."

"I'll kiss and cuddle you while you read," Troy suggested.

"Okay," Gabriella agreed finally.

* * *

"Okay, I'm done reading," Gabriella told Troy. The kids were in bed, and their parents had gotten to cuddle

and read-well at least one of them read.

"Can I carry you upstairs and get you ready for bed?" Troy asked.

Gabriella nodded. "I'd love it."

Just then, Hoops came out from under the sofa, meowing loudly.

"What's wrong, little kitty?" Gabriella asked the kitten gently.

Hoops jumped onto the sofa and curled up in Gabriella's lap, beginning to purr and rub his little cheeks against

her arms and hands.

"Aw, he's so cute," Gabriella commented, beginning to carefully stroke the orange fur of her son's cat.

"As cute as me?" Troy questioned.

"Of course not. You're still my favorite," was Gabriella's answer. She then placed a kiss on her husband's

cheek.

"Do you wanna take Hoops up to bed with us?"

"Sure." Gabriella scooped the kitten into her arms, then got off the sofa.

Troy stood up and said, "I guess I can't hold you."

"No, not now."

"But later?"

"Yeah."

Troy followed Gabriella upstairs and into their bedroom.

Gabriella set Hoops down on the bed. "Is it okay if he sleeps here with us?"

Troy nodded as he shut the door. "I'm fine with it. Now can I hold you?"

Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy, who lifted her off the floor and kissed her nose.

"You love my nose," Gabriella remarked.

"Yes, I do," Troy agreed, touching his nose to his wife's and nuzzling it.

Gabriella nuzzled back. "We haven't done that in a long time."

"You're right. We haven't."

"I missed it. Can we do it more often?"

"Sure," Troy agreed.

"Can I get down so I can get changed?" Gabriella asked.

Troy put Gabriella back on the ground.

Gabriella quickly got out of her clothes and threw on one of Troy's shirts; it had cooled down a bit to the point

where it was comfortable to wear normal clothing to sleep. She was happy about that.

Troy, ready to go to sleep, laid down on the bed in his Wildcats shorts. Gabriella snuggled next to him. "Are

you gonna roll over on the cat?" he asked, noticing Hoops was right up against his wife purring.

"I hope not," Gabriella replied.

"Are you glad we have the kittens?"

"Yeah. I love them."

Troy switched off the light, then pulled Gabriella closer to his side. "Where's my good night kiss?"

Gabriella pressed her lips against Troy's.

Troy returned the kiss. "I love you. Good night."

"Love you, too. Good night." Then, turning toward Hoops, she said, "Good night, little kitty."

"Are you sure you're not gonna roll over on that kitten?"

"I'm paw-sitive."

"Paw-sitive?"

"Cats have paws. Positive sounds like paw-sitive."

"You're silly, baby girl," Troy told Gabriella.

"You're crazy, Wildcat."

* * *

**I know this chapter was boring.....but the story's winding down. Next chapter will be the last (all my **

**HSM series stories have 18 chaps.) then I will ****start HSM8. Though to tell you all now, I will be REALLY **

**super busy when I start HSM8 because I'll be ****going back to school Monday. I'll have tons of homework, **

**I'll be working on lines for the play after drama auditions, ****and dance is getting more serious. So when I **

**start HSM8, I might only update 1-2 times a week. Sorry ****about that:( And I hope you all had a happy **

**New ****Years'!!!!!!!**


	18. Angry and Happy

Gabriella woke up at midnight to a cat meowing. Lifting her head as much as she could, she saw Hoops by the

closed bedroom door waiting to go out into the hallway. _Now I gotta try to wake Troy up,_ she thought with a slight

groan. "Wildcat, please wake up."

Troy didn't move.

"Wildcat, please. I have to let Hoops out of our room," Gabriella begged.

"Love you, too," Troy mumbled in his sleep.

_I didn't even say 'I love you'! _Gabriella thought, getting a bit frustrated. "Wildcat, the kitty wants to go out."

Troy didn't respond.

Hoops began scratching the carpet.

"Bad cat!" Gabriella scolded.

Hoops let out a small meow, then jumped up, trying to reach the door knob.

"I'm coming, Hoops," Gabriella told the orange tabby kitten.

"Gabby, what's wrong?" Troy asked sleepily as he opened his blue eyes the tiniest bit.

"Hoops wants to leave our bedroom and you're cuddling me so close I can't get up. Again," Gabriella replied

with a loving smile.

"M-hm." Troy released Gabriella from his tight grasp.

"Thank you." Gabriella climbed out of bed, let the kitten out, then went back in bed to snuggle up with Troy.

Troy immediately wrapped his arms tightly around Gabriella and kissed her nose. "I love you."

"Love you."

"Are you comfy?"

"Of course-I'm always comfy in your arms."

"You're the sweetest."

Gabriella smiled. "Love you, too."

* * *

"I don't like cown," little Troy complained. It was dinnertime. The meal was steak, corn, and mashed potatoes.

"Eat at least three pieces," Gabriella instructed.

"No," little Troy argued.

"Please do it, Troy," Troy said firmly.

"But it's yucky."

"Then eat some steak and mashed potatoes," Troy suggested.

"I don't like steak. It's yucky."

"What about mashed potatoes?"

"I don't feel like eating that wight now."

"You need to eat _something _that's on this table."

"I don't wanna."

"Troy, please cooperate."

"I don't wanna coopanate."

"It's cooperate," Troy corrected. "And you have to. Please eat unless you're sick, which Daddy doesn't think you

are."

"I am sick," little Troy lied, coughing an obviously fake cough.

"I like dinner," Brie cut in.

Little Troy hit Brie.

"Mommy, he hit me!" Brie whined.

"Kids, stop," Gabriella ordered.

At that moment, Julliette's crying could be heard from upstairs.

"I gotta go get a bottle ready and give it to Julliette," Gabriella announced, getting out of her chair and walking

into the kitchen where all the bottles and baby formula were.

"Troy, eat your dinner," Troy told his son.

Little Troy scooped some mashed potatoes that were on his plate into his hand, then flung them at his dad.

"TROY! GO IN TIME OUT!" Troy yelled as the potatoes landed in his face.

Little Troy laughed. "I got food in your stupid face!"

"DON'T TALK LIKE THAT! GET IN TIME OUT!"

Brie started giggling. "Daddy, you need to wipe your face."

"Brie, be quiet please," Troy begged, trying not to lose his temper with her as he reached for a napkin and be-

gan wiping the potatoes off his face.

"Wildcat, what happened?" Gabriella asked as she came out of the kitchen.

"Troy threw mashed potatoes at me," Troy replied, sounding annoyed.

"Aw, poor Wildcat. Let me go give Julliette her bottle and then I'll be back down to help with the twins."

"I told Troy to go in time out."

"Troy, come with Mommy," Gabriella said to her son.

"Why?" little Troy wondered.

"I want to show you something."

Little Troy jumped out of his seat and hurried over to Gabriella, then followed her upstairs.

"Go to your room," Gabriella instructed, trying to sound like nothing was going on.

Little Troy ran into his room.

"You're in time out," Gabriella informed him firmly. "Don't come out until Mommy or Daddy says you can."

"You told me thewe was a suwpwise!"

"Well that was the surprise."

"Mommy, that was mean!"

"Troy, be quiet and stay in time out." Then, Gabriella walked into her baby's room to give her the bottle she

had made for her.

Little Troy raced out of his room and down the stairs. Rushing into the dining room, he took his plate of food

and dumped it on Troy.

"YOU ARE HAVE ALL YOUR RACECARS TAKEN AWAY! I CAN'T EVEN ENJOY DINNER! I GOTTA

GO TAKE A SHOWER NOW!" Troy yelled as he got out of his chair and angrily went upstairs.

Little Troy began laughing hysterically.

"Stop laughing!" Brie shouted.

"I gotta get a shower," Troy told his wife once he was upstairs.

Gabriella came out of Julliette's room holding her daughter. "What happened to you?"

"Troy dumped all his dinner on me."

"He's in HUGE trouble. I'll take care of him. You can just go get a nice hot shower. Oh, and try to scrape some

the food off your clothes."

"I will," Troy promised before heading into the bathroom.

* * *

"Today was a long day," Troy commented, cuddling Gabriella close to him. It was ten o' clock at night.

"Do you want me to make you feel better?" Gabriella asked.

"How are you gonna do that?" Troy wondered.

Gabriella kissed Troy's cheek and snuggled closer to him. "Like that."

Troy pressed his lips onto Gabriella's. "I love you."

Gabriella returned the kiss. "Love you, too, Wildcat."

Just then, a knock was heard at the bedroom door.

"Who is it?" Gabriella asked.

"It's me," came Brie's voice. "Tutu was on my bed and she bit me."

"Hard?"

"No."

"She was probably love-biting. That's what cats do when they like someone. Tutu likes you."

"Oh." Brie went back to her room.

"At least she didn't bite her hard," Troy remarked. After a pause, he added, "How do you know so much about

cats?"

"I just do," Gabriella answered.

"I love you so much."

"Love you, too."

"I'm glad you were able to trick Troy into going in time out."

Gabriella laughed. "Yeah, but I think this was the only time I could do it. He's not gonna fall for it next time."

"Let's hope there won't _be_ a next time," Troy said.

Gabriella smiled sleepily.

"Are you ready to try falling asleep?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright, well good night."

"Good night."

* * *

"Kids, come sit on the sofa," Troy called. "Mommy and Daddy wanna take a picture of you with your baby sis-

ter and the cats."

The twins rushed downstairs, Gabriella following them with Julliette in her arms.

"Whewe awe the kittens?" Brie wondered as she sat down with her brother.

"Right here." Troy handed Tutu to Brie, then Hoops to Troy. "Put them next to you."

Little Troy and Brie placed their kittens next to them.

Gabriella carefully laid Julliette across the twins' laps. "Make sure you hold her gently," she instructed.

"We will," little Troy and Brie both answered.

"Are you ready?" Troy asked.

The twins nodded.

"Smile," Gabriella reminded her oldest children.

Little Troy and Brie smiled.

Troy grabbed the camera that was on the end table by the sofa and took a picture of his kids and their kittens.

"I wanna take a pictuwe," Brie told her dad.

Gabriella took Julliette from the twins.

"Okay," Troy agreed, handing the camera to his oldest daughter. "But just one."

Brie took the camera and snapped a picture of the wall. "I took a pictuwe of the wall!"

"I wanna take one," little Troy announced.

"Brie, let your brother take one," Gabriella said.

Brie handed the camera to little Troy.

Little Troy took a picture of the TV that was against the wall that faced the sofa. "I took a picture of the TV!"

Gabriella and Troy both looked at each other and smiled. Even though the kids didn't listen at times, they were

still very happy they had them. And of course they were also glad they had each other. Forever.

* * *

**That's it for this story! HSM8 will be coming soon!!!!!!! Thanks for all the reviews!!!!!!**


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